Mad Season
by Etcetera Kit
Summary: PRDT. Five years after Mesogog's defeat, Conner comes back to Reefside and runs into Tommy at the mall food court. Drawn into danger, can they admit their true feelings or will some things remain unspoken? Slash. Author's notes revised! Complete.
1. the Force of Ages

**Disclaimer:** 'Power Rangers' is property of BVE or someone along those lines. No infringement is intended.

**Author's Note:** Hey everybody! I'm back and I've temporarily joined the dark side... in other words, this story is slash. If you don't know what that is or the idea is unappealing to you, please go no further. You have been thusly warned. (This is also part of the reason this story is rated R.) This also happens in the 'Roaring On the Wind' world. You don't have to have read RotW, just know that it is an AU version of the end of Dino Thunder. Special thanks for Jepoliant and Kaidence Ledger for beta reading this for me! With that, on with the show!

Also-- this story was written with heavy influences from cmar's excellent fic, 'Red Fire'. Most of the plot structure and some of the plot devices have been borrowed from her. Thanks to cmar-- for allowing me to use these things! I highly recommend her work! --EK

* * *

**MAD SEASON**

By Etcetera Kit

**Chapter One: the Force of Ages**

The air was cool and crisp outside, typical California weather for the Christmas season. Chances of snow were slim to none, so he wasn't holding his breath. While outside was pleasant mingled with snatches of Christmas carols and bells, the inside of the mall was crowded and stuffy, people packed in like sardines, trying to finish their last minute shopping. He didn't know why he had ended up here. There was really no reason for him to be here—he had finished all his Christmas shopping. He supposed that he just didn't want to sit in his rather lonely apartment. His job didn't start until the spring semester, so he was aimless right now, but he was home.

Conner McKnight was home.

It had been five years since he had been a Power Ranger, since they defeated Mesogog. Four of those years had been spent at UCLA, where he had a soccer scholarship. After graduating, he hadn't been sure what he wanted to do. He could always play soccer and had actually had several offers, but hadn't done that. So he had gone back to UCLA and enrolled in their teacher's certification program for people who already had a bachelor's degree. He had spent the summer and fall as a substitute teacher in Angel Grove. Then he came home, after being offered a job to teach at a private boys' prep school in Reefside and be the soccer coach. It hadn't been his original dream, but it worked.

He still felt kind of aimless though. He had realized many things about himself when he was at college and away from the others. In high school, he had always acted like the dumb jock who was girl-crazy and a chick-magnet, which he was to a certain extent. As the years marched on in their terrible dance, he found himself acting out that role because he felt it was expected of him. Once he got to college, he stopped playing out that role and tried to do what came more naturally to him.

The only problem was that he had had to figure out what was more natural to him than girls and sports. He had a friend who dragged him along to writer's forum that the 'sit at Starbucks and write poetry' types on campus formed. She had encouraged him to actually write something. When he had, he was surprised to find that the words and stories flowed naturally from him. Still in his first semester, he changed his major to English and spent hours in the library researching FBI techniques to make his stories more believable. He still loved soccer, but he had tapped into a talent he never knew he had. Not that he talked about his writing to anyone back home, not even his family. He was still afraid of ridicule.

He stirred the straw in his soda as he sat at a secluded table in the food court, watching the busy people come and go. His parents had asked him if needed money in the few weeks he'd be in Reefside before he started his job. No had been his answer. Almost no one in his family knew about the mystery series he had written that had been published, with the final books on the press. It was under a pen name, but it gave him more than enough money to survive in Reefside before he started teaching English at the prep school.

A couple with a small baby crossed the food court smiling. He tapped his pen against the table and started scribbling on a small notepad. Warner Books had given him an advance to write another mystery series and he was working on shaping it.

"Conner?"

He looked up from the notepad to see Hayley and Doctor O standing across the food court from him. He blinked. The last people he expected to see at the mall so close to Christmas was Tommy and Hayley. He waved, shoving the pen and notepad back in his jacket pocket. The duo wove in and out of tables, before coming over to the small table he had holed himself away at. Hayley grinned at him.

"I didn't know you where back in Reefside," she said.

"Weren't you in Angel Grove?" Tommy asked.

He nodded. "I was, but I was offered a job here."

"That's awesome!" Hayley replied with a grin. "Mind if we join you for a few minutes? This place is wild."

"Sure."

They both pulled up chairs. Conner had always known that Hayley and Tommy were friends, but it made him wonder if they had grown any closer in his absence from Reefside. It was certainly odd for them to be at the mall together and for Hayley to be at the mall at all. She had done all her shopping when they were active rangers on-line, seeing no need to wait in lines when she could do it quickly and efficiently.

"So how are you guys doing?" he asked.

"Same old, same old," Tommy replied with a grin. Conner wondered briefly why he was referring to Doctor O as Tommy now. Maybe it was because their relationship was more like friends and no longer teacher-student.

"Where're you working?" Hayley asked.

"St. John's," he replied knowing that both of them knew what the prep school was. "Teaching English and coaching soccer."

"English?" Tommy sounded skeptical.

"Yeah," he said uncomfortably, running a hand through his hair. "It's kind of a long story…" he trailed off. There was no one who would understand about his change of major and his love for writing. Well, if he coupled the writing with the fact that he was a best-selling author, then people might not be as critical. Then again, the books were under a pen name and who back here was going to believe him? No one. "So what are the others doing?" he asked, referring to Kira, Ethan and Trent and wanting to get the focus off the fact that he was teaching English.

"Kira's up in New York working on a demo," Hayley replied. "Ethan works for Microsoft, program designer. Trent still works for me, but we're co-managers now."

"Cool," Conner replied. "Ethan sent me a video game he designed a while back." He shrugged. "Only problem was I didn't have the right system."

"He sent all of us a copy of that game," Tommy snorted. "I think he's the only one with that particular system."

"That's Ethan for you," Hayley said.

Conner shook his head, smiling. He had missed the original bunch when he had been in LA and Angel Grove. There were things about him that they wouldn't understand now, but it was still the good old bunch and they had shared some good times. He briefly recalled a phone conversation he with Kira close to the start of his freshman year of college.

_"Conner,"_ she had said in a practiced patient tone. _"You have to be true to yourself. Others might think that you're being weird at first, but then they'll respect you. Have you ever really wanted to have a new girlfriend every other week?"_

He had to admit that the answer to that was no. For a long time, he had lived under the image that he wanted spontaneity and that he was restless. Then he realized, he had really wanted stability, a routine to count on. That was part of the reason he had accepted the job at St. John's. It would provide some of the stability he was looking for.

He had the same girlfriend for most of college. The beginning of their senior year, she had looked at him when they were on a date and said, _"Oh my God! You're bi."_ At the time, he had been shocked beyond belief. But once he thought about it and he and his girlfriend talked about it, he realized that she might be on to something. He definitely liked girls. But… what if he liked guys too? He wasn't entirely sure on that—hadn't been brave enough to be with a guy yet. However, it was yet another thing most of his family and friends in Reefside wouldn't understand. Was he just going to tell Hayley and Tommy what he supposed? That would be laughable. _"Oh and by the way, I think I'm bisexual."_ Great conversation topic. No… it was just better that he keep his writing and sexual orientation under wraps. He was already getting enough flak because he was teaching English.

"Conner?" He snapped to attention at Hayley's voice. She looked concerned. "Are you all right? You kind of spaced out."

"Yeah," he replied, shaking his head. "I'm fine."

"Something on your mind?" Tommy asked.

'There's a lot of things on my mind,' Conner replied inwardly. "Nothing you guys want to hear about," he replied aloud.

"Conner," Tommy said. "We were on the same team. Whatever it is, you can talk about it. I'm not going to look down on you."

Conner met his gaze, looking into those dark brown eyes framed by thick lashes. Oh no, he was not developing feelings for Doctor O? The man had been his high school science teacher! There was something seriously wrong about that. There was something behind those dark eyes, something that had always been there, but he had never been able to identify it. Now, all these years later, it looked like… lust. Was Doctor O gay and had been hiding it expertly for years?

Hayley interrupted his thoughts with a laugh. "You guys seriously need to get some rest or something," she replied. "It almost looked like the two of you should have been exchanging protestations of love with that intense gaze."

He had almost forgotten that Hayley could read people in the dark. Tommy averted his gaze and gave Hayley had sidelong glance.

"Right," he said to her with a smile, drawing out the word.

Conner just shook his head, still puzzled about what that look meant. Maybe it was the way that Tommy always looked and he had just been too unobservant in high school to pick up on it. He liked to think that he had gained perception, especially since he was a best-selling author, but sometimes it felt like the simplest things eluded him.

He caught the look Hayley gave Tommy. She definitely knew something about Tommy that Conner didn't.

And still, as he thought about Doctor O's reaction to Hayley's statement, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. If he wanted to be with a guy, then he couldn't think of a better choice than Doctor O, despite the age difference. But nothing would come of it. He wasn't even sure about himself.

* * *

One of the last people Tommy Oliver had expected to see at the mall had been Conner McKnight. Hayley had asked him to come with her to brave the mall, so she could finish some last minute shopping she had not been able to do on-line. He had agreed, mostly because it was Christmas vacation and he had nothing to do until the new semester started. So he came along to the wild and crazy mall, where they ran into Conner in the food court. 

In the five years since they had been rangers, Tommy's life had not changed much at all. He still worked at Reefside High School, teaching science. He still loved archaeology and took his classes on digs occasionally. But things had gone back to the boring realm of academia that they had been in before he found the gems. He graded papers, talked to Hayley… life was pretty stagnant. He hadn't kept in touch with his family since they found out about… well… that wasn't important. He just didn't keep in touch with them. Even some of his friends from the previous teams he had been on grew distant. There was always the red ranger bunch, but none of them knew his secrets. They didn't need to know.

But Conner appeared to have changed between his graduation from high school and his time at college. He seemed to have matured, developed a quiet meditative nature that most people only dream of having. He looked the same. Tommy remembered seeing him for the first time during that fateful detention and his first thought had been that Conner was going to break hearts. At that time in his own life, he had still been trying to figure out what he felt, who he really was. He had an image that he had accepted without question since high school and it took him until graduate school to realize some things. Even then, he couldn't accept all of them. He recalled a conversation he had with Hayley when he was moving into his house in Reefside.

_"Tommy,"_ she had said in an exasperated tone of voice. _"No man who is completely straight can decorate a house this well."_

_"Hayley, I am not gay! I've never liked guys."_

_"You probably have, you just haven't known it for what it is."_

_"Give me an example."_

_"How long into college did you continue to tell me that you and Kat were just 'spending some time apart' to work out your problems?"_

_"A long time?" _he had suggested.

_"Try over a year, Tommy! Stop clinging to your past girlfriends and pointing to them to prove you don't like guys!"_

Once he told her that three of the Dino-Gems had bonded with three teenagers, that put that conversation to rest. He didn't know how any of the kids felt about that subject, although he was pretty sure that Ethan and Conner didn't want it brought up. Hayley had enough discrimination to not start that argument in front of them. He wanted to know what had her so convinced he was gay. She claimed it was because he had never had another girlfriend after Kat. He didn't see that as a reason. He just hadn't found anyone else after her.

Then again, once they stopped being active rangers, he had started to think about what she said again. It didn't seem possible. Hadn't there been the very time that year when he had been attracted to Principal Randall? Then it struck him. Hayley had never once told him that he didn't like girls. Maybe the correct term was bisexual.

At any rate, he hadn't found any way to cement that accusation, so it remained floating up in the air. His only mistake had been telling his mother four Christmases ago that he thought he might be bisexual. That brought on the rant about her 'never getting grandchildren.' He was over thirty for crying out loud! What made her think he was going to settle down anytime soon and have children? In fact, the idea of having children was not the most appealing to him. He could handle children once they hit about age eight. That was part of the reason he used to teach karate lessons.

But he didn't talk about that anymore. It had caused him more problems that it had good. Hayley told him he shouldn't hide things about himself from the people closest to him. This time he had the legitimate example of his mother.

And now, sitting in the mall with Hayley and Conner, all those things came tumbling back to him in their vivid colors. He didn't know what it was. Could Conner somehow be the catalyst in all of this? Good Lord, he couldn't be attracted to Conner, could he? Conner had to be at least ten years younger than him if not more. This was ridiculous. And what had Hayley been getting at with that comment? She was not going to try to hook them up. If there was one thing Tommy had learned about Hayley that almost no one else knew, it was that she fancied herself a matchmaker. It worked sometimes.

"So are things still the same at Reefside?" Conner asked to cover up the awkward silence that they had fallen into.

He nodded. "We got a new principal. The soccer team won state."

Conner smiled. "Anything would have been an improvement over Randall."

"She did turn good again," Hayley added.

"Didn't last as the principal," Tommy muttered. He gave Conner a sidelong glance. "So what are you doing at the mall?"

The former Red Ranger shrugged. "I needed something to do. It's been a little boring sitting around my apartment since I don't start work until the spring semester."

Tommy frowned. "How are you affording that?"

Conner shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "I have ways," he replied evasively. "Saved up a lot when I was subbing up in Angel Grove."

That sounded like a lie and Tommy knew it. What did Conner do to make money that was so bad he felt he needed to cover it up? Knowing Conner, it was probably working nights as a chef or something that he might consider 'feminine'. If word got back to the others about something like that, then Tommy knew that he would be mortified. He decided not to pursue the subject. Conner looked uncomfortable enough.

"Kira e-mailed me to say she'd be home for Christmas," Hayley said, effectively changing the subject. Tommy sent her a silent 'thank you'.

"That's cool," Conner responded to Hayley.

"I'm also still having the annual Christmas party at the café," she added. "And you're invited, Conner."

He grinned. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." He paused. "Still having the New Year's party too?"

"Of course," Hayley said, her tone clearly indicating that he was crazy to have thought anything to the contrary.

Tommy smiled. Hayley's holiday parties were always fun. It was mostly kids there, but he and Hayley managed to find people to talk to and relate to. And there was always plenty of food and drinks. If nothing else, the free food was incentive enough to come. There had only been two of those parties when all the Dino Thunder Rangers had been present. Of course, one of those parties was spent listening to Cassidy talk for hours on end about how she had to find out who the Power Rangers were or she might get fired. Tommy had never understood why the news station hired her in the first place.

"FREEZE! Everybody down!"

His first instinct at the loud voice was to look up and see where it came from, but the next noise caused him to grab Hayley's arm and pull her down under the table—gunshots. Conner ducked under the table with them.

"What the hell?" Conner breathed.

"Who is that?" Hayley asked.

Tommy pushed himself up, so that he had a view over the table. Men in ski masks holding various types of guns were standing at every entrance to the food court. He felt his heart begin to beat an irregular rhythm as cold sweat poured down his back. They were in the middle of a mall that was the target of a terrorist attack. He was surprised he even came up with the words to describe what was going on.

"Don't move," he breathed to them.

Hayley looked frightened. Conner looked bewildered, like he wasn't entirely sure what was going on. He heard crashing noises coming from somewhere to his right, knowing that these men were going through tables, looking for hostages.

"Do what we say and you might live," one of the men called.

The crashing continued. Tommy closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. He'd need to concentrate and not allow himself to panic if he was going to come out of this alive. He opened his eyes and looked directly into Conner's light brown eyes. They were alight with fear.

One of the men kicked aside the chair that Tommy had capsized when shoving himself and Hayley under the table. Hayley clutched his arm, her nails digging into his skin through his jacket and shirt. "Well, well, well," the man mused. Tommy noted that he talked with an American accent. He wasn't the fabled foreign terrorists. "What have we here?" He pointed the barrel of a machine gun at them. "Up," he commanded.

Tommy slowly rose to his feet, bringing Hayley with him, her still clutching his arm for dear life. Conner stood up after them.

"Hands up!" Another man came forward. He was shorter than the one that had initially accosted them. He also spoke with a pronounced New York accent.

"Should have run like the others," the first man said, shaking his head and cracking his chewing gum.

"We've got enough though," New York said. "They'll have to listen to us now."

"No doubt, no doubt," the man replied, pressing the barrel of his gun into Tommy's shoulder. "Get along now," he said, pushing him in the direction of a small group of stragglers, people who had ducked, rather than run out of the food court at the first gun shots.

Tommy led the way to the small group, keeping his eyes forward. In his peripheral vision, he could see the bodies of those who had been hit by the bullets. Bile rose in his throat but he forced it down. Of all the insane things to happen, this had to be it. His stomach had constricted into a tight knot of anxiety.

The group was ragged and looked scared beyond belief. He noticed a little girl clinging to her mother's arm. He was reminded of the children of the other red rangers that he had met. He couldn't imagine any of them in this situation. The girl's mother looked half-hysterical. Hayley still clutching his arm, he stood with the others, not saying anything. The men in ski masks were talking, but their voices were a dull roar in his ears. For the first time in over five years, he felt fear. His only thought was to remain alive.

His eyes met Conner's.

If only… if only… 

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Coming Closer

**Disclaimer:** 'Power Rangers' is property of BVE or someone along those lines. No infringement is intended.

**MAD SEASON**

By Etcetera Kit

**Chapter Two: Coming Closer**

"Put them some place and make sure none of them escape," the man who appeared to be the leader of this little party snapped to the others.

Conner felt the cold, sharp barrel of a gun press into his shoulder as the group was urged forward towards a hallway. He knew this hallway. It was the hallway that housed the bathrooms and the doors to get to the private offices of the powers-that-be of the mall. The group was marched down the hallway and the men broke the lock on the door that read 'private.' The hallway was eerily deserted. For a moment, he had hoped that someone might still be there or have heard them coming and called the police. Then again, he was sure the police had already been called. His heart pounded.

"In there!" someone ordered and they filed into what appeared to be a conference room. He felt himself propelled forward where he ran into Hayley's back.

"Search them," another person called.

Someone grabbed Conner from behind. He tried to struggle, but a fist connected with his jaw and he stumbled into the conference table. His vision blurred as a sharp pang dulled to steady ache. The man roughly patted him down, pulling his wallet, cell phone and keys from his pants' pockets and throwing it into a growing pile on the table. He was too scared to feel any indignation at the violation. His jacket was pulled off and the man began going through the pockets, coming up with a wad of tissues, some cough drops and his pen and notepad. The man flipped through the notepad, seeing some of his doodles for the book series.

"What have we here?" the man mused. "A little writer? What do you do? Sit at Starbucks and write poetry?" he sneered. "Nothing but a faggot." He roughly pushed Conner directly in the middle of his chest, forcing him against the wall. He coughed as the wind was knocked out of him.

Another man walked up to him. Conner winced as the foul breath got close to his face. "We might have some use for you, sweetheart," the man said, running a gloved finger over his cheek.

Conner fought the urge to yell or vomit. He had come to terms with the fact that he was bisexual, but he absolutely did not want to be raped by some crazed terrorists. For some reason, that prospect seemed worse to him than possible death.

"Sit down against the wall," another order came. He sank down to the ground, realizing that Tommy and Hayley were on either side of him. He turned slightly to Tommy and found a commiserating look in those dark eyes. He had no idea why he found Tommy's eyes so fascinating all of a sudden. Perhaps it was because he had never noticed that before. If this had been any other situation, he would have seriously considered pressing his lips to Tommy's and seeing what happened. But the cold reality was they were now hostages and Tommy was completely straight.

The terrorists were talking amongst themselves just outside the door. Conner took an opportunity to look around the room. There were no other exits or windows—it was probably a fire hazard and a half. The only way to escape would be to overcome these people somehow and Conner seriously doubted they would get far since the terrorists had automatic weapons and they had only their fists.

He felt Tommy lightly touch his knee. The gesture was simple and, to a casual observer, looked like a friendly touch. And Conner knew that was all it was, as much as he wanted to read into it. He had to stop this. It wasn't right.

"Are you all right?" Tommy asked.

He nodded quickly. "I guess so."

"They're not going to rape you," Hayley said softly. "That would detract from whatever their cause is. They're either going to bargain with the police or start killing us."

"Very comforting," Tommy replied, a biting sarcastic edge to his words.

Conner didn't say anything. Death had never felt so near to him. He was twenty-three and had managed to avoid most of the car wrecks that people in his age group faced. His twin brother had been in a car accident their junior year of high school and had turned his entire life around after that. Being a ranger had made him much more aware of the possibility of death, but it had never been as close as the barrel of a machine gun.

There were so many things he could to do. He wished that Eric, his twin, was not the only member of his family who knew about the books and the fact that he was bisexual. Eric had been surprisingly supportive when he talked to him about it.

_"Conner, you're my brother. I don't care if you're gay, straight or bi. I don't care if you decide you want to be a Roman Catholic priest. I'll love you anyways. Besides, it's kind of neat that you're a bestselling author. I've read some of those books and thought they were great…"_

He had been amused to find out Eric had been unknowingly reading his books. He had claimed that his girlfriend got him into them. If there was one member of his family he always felt like he could talk to and reveal things about himself to that he would never tell anyone else, it was Eric. The identical twins shared a bond that was elusive to anyone else. Eric always seemed to know when he was upset or angry and would call him. Conner did the same thing for Eric. They had never talked about that sense of precognition towards each other. It was always there and they didn't want their parents, firm skeptics, to crush that sense.

No one else knew about those things. Eric was his best friend, his confidant and he was the same to Eric. They had seen each other through scraped knees, fights with bullies, breakups and their parents' wrath. And they had always been closer than they let on to the public. The only thing he kept hidden from Eric was the fact that he was a Power Ranger. And still, he thought that Eric subconsciously knew that as well.

"What are you thinking about?" Hayley asked softly.

"My brother," Conner said reluctantly.

"Eric?" she asked with a smile. He nodded. "I've always liked him whenever he came to the café." She paused. "I don't know how your mother told you two apart when you were little."

"She always had our hair cut differently and had us in different clothes." He shrugged. "And Eric doesn't tend to do coffee shops or cybercafés. Not his thing."

"I don't imagine it's really your thing either," Tommy said dryly.

He cracked a smile. "No. But you'd be surprised."

Tommy opened his mouth to say something, but Hayley beat him to it. "Are you and Eric really close?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. His thoughts went back to one night during high school when he had just broken up with his girlfriend. That was before he became a ranger…

_His room was dark save for one small lamp on his nightstand that he had. He sighed, drawing his knees up to his chest and staring out the window at the ink black sky. His first breakup since freshman year. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Why was he the one mooning over a girl? He just felt… rejected._

_"Can't sleep?"_

_He looked up to see Eric standing in the doorway of his room leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed. Eric… his image, the only difference being Eric's hair was shorter and combed more neatly than his. "How did you know?" he asked._

_"You're awake," he replied. He pushed himself off the doorframe and crossed the room, sitting on the end of Conner's bed. "Are you all right?" he asked._

_He shrugged. "I just can't believe Kelly broke up with me."_

_Eric nodded. "I know its rough, but, believe me, she was not the girl for you."_

_Conner remained silent, knowing that Eric was probably right in the long run. He had built up such dreams about them, almost to the point of imagining their wedding. But that was unrealistic. And who marries their high school girlfriend anyways?_

_"I'll let you in on a secret," Eric said, his eyes glowing with a conspiratorial light. "I had a huge crush on my teacher when I was still at that ninja academy."_

_"Tori?" Conner asked with a grin._

_Eric shrugged. "She was hot. Of course, she wouldn't give me the time of day."_

_He had laughed, the laughter working like a soothing balm to heal his wounds. It was hard imagining Eric having a crush on a serious ninja teacher. He had heard all about Tori, since the day Eric found out he had been assigned to the water classes. Then their parents decided Eric was spending too much time at the academy and not enough time on his schoolwork and made him drop out of the ninja school. That had been hard on Eric. The rumor at that school had been that three of their teachers had been Power Rangers…_

_But they had stayed up that night, talking about the ridiculous things they had done, some separately and some together, but ridiculous nonetheless…_

"We were always there for each other," Conner said. "I think the hardest thing we ever did was go to separate colleges."

"Could you have gone to the same colleges?" Hayley asked.

He shook his head. "Our parents wouldn't let us. They always thought we spent an unhealthy amount of time together growing up. Never mind the fact that studies have shown identical twins had this weird 'bond' thing."

Hayley smiled. "Your parents are strict?"

"Not strict. Just insane." He paused. "They have strange ideas. And they were both only children, so they didn't understand how siblings interact, let alone twins." He smiled. "We had our own language when we were little. Sometimes we reverted back to it when we got older, just to confuse our parents."

Hayley continued to smile. He could recall many times when he and Eric would pretend to be each other to confuse their parents. Or start speaking their own language again. It was strange, but he could never translate that language. It was something that just was. He and Eric understood it and that was all that was needed.

He turned towards the door, looking at the men there with guns. He only hoped he could make it out of this alive. Or make it long enough to tell someone other than Eric about the revelations he had had about his life.

* * *

Tommy smiled to himself as Conner talked about his brother. It was clear that the pair of them were extremely close. He was an only child. Well, he had been raised as an only child. The adopted son of fairly successful parents, he had done well in his childhood and adolescence, always knowing that he was adopted and not particularly caring. He had always felt loved by his parents and, once he became the White Ranger, felt like he fit in with the other rangers.

That tiny world he had knit for himself came crashing down around him when he found out about David and Sam and where he really came from. For most of his life, he had remained blissfully ignorant about his roots. Then he found his brother and his grandfather. It was hard for him to consciously think of David as his brother, even after all this time. He was an only child. It was how he had been raised. His adopted parents had adopted him in hopes of fulfilling the phrase 'adoption leads to conception.' Hadn't happened in their case. For the first time in a long time, after he had met David, he thought about what could have been if he hadn't been adopted. He would have been an entirely different person and not a ranger.

Well, he didn't really talk to his mother and father anymore. He and David kept in sporadic touch, but not enough to really consider themselves more than distant relations. With that distance, Sam was lost too, since his grandfather didn't know much about modern means of communication. After he opened his big mouth almost four years ago, things hadn't been the same between himself and his parents. Besides, his mother had visions of grandchildren and he just couldn't see himself with kids, no matter how hard he tried. And there was the slight problem that he hadn't had a real girlfriend since Kat back in high school. Kids didn't just come out of a cabbage patch and it took two to tango.

_"Tommy,"_ Hayley had told him one time during undergraduate school. _"Stop living in the past and start living now. Kat is gone. You're probably not going to hear from her again. Find someone else and move on!"_

That had been enough to propel him forward. Then Billy and Trini and their daughter came to UCLA with them. He and Billy had grown closer then and just the novelty of being around their daughter was enough to keep his mind off of Kat and the past. Then there was always Joanna and Chris, the cousins from Texas who had been he and Hayley's roommates respectively. Joanna had been a Marine Biology major and was often accused of loving fish more than people. Chris had been an Art and Physics major and got the honor and distinction of being the weirdo.

Those years had been some of the best. He and Hayley along with Billy, Trini, Joanna and Chris… hanging out and forming a new group… finding the support that all of them needed. He could recall trips to Best Buy, where Billy worked, to harass Billy and talk him into going out with them on Friday nights. Or laughing as Hayley and Joanna conspired to take Trini out for a night to get away from Billy and their daughter for a while.

"Remember Joanna and that bunch?" Hayley asked suddenly, drawing him from his reverie. Conner looked interested. He smiled. Hayley always had an uncanny knack for hitting on what others were thinking.

"How could I forget them?" he replied. He remembered he and Chris had plans for world domination. They had gone to Best Buy one night to expound on the plan with Billy…

_It was late. Best Buy was going to close in about half an hour. Tommy and Chris walked through the doors, realizing that it was late and no one was likely to be buying a computer, so Billy would be free. Tommy reached into his jacket pocket, just to make sure the folded piece of notebook paper was still there._

_"Got it?" Chris asked._

_"Of course," he scoffed._

_They made their way to the computer section where Billy was sitting behind the counter, reading a magazine, looking generally bored. Chris bounded up to the counter, slapping his palm on the surface and startling Billy out of his half-asleep stupor._

_"We've got it!" Chris proclaimed._

_"You found a brain?" Billy asked mildly._

_"No," Chris replied, waving his arms in a grandiose gesture. "Show him, Tommy."_

_Tommy took the piece of notebook paper out of his pocket and smoothed it out on the counter. "We have a brilliant idea for world domination by infiltrating the towel market."_

_"The towel market?" Billy gave them a look that clearly said he thought they were sniffing glue or something. He also had another look in his eyes only for Tommy. 'All their enemies when they were active rangers were out for world domination and looked how it panned out for them.' Tommy gave him a pointed look trying to say it was all in good fun._

_"Yes!" Chris cried. "Straight from Douglas Adams, a man after my own heart."_

_They then spent the next ten minutes outlining the plan which included slowly taking over the stock market, starting with linen companies. Once they took over the stock market, they could then move into the government since they would control most of America's money. In the government, they would slowly replace key offices before taking over. And once they had America it was only a matter of time before the world._

_Billy had laughed, going along with the ridiculous plan. It was times like this that Tommy knew he was ultimately going to treasure, coming into Best Buy late at night and scheming about things that would never come to pass…_

"We were going to take over the world," he said.

Hayley smiled. "I remember that. You guys also kept trying to interfere with Billy and Trini's life overmuch."

Tommy shrugged. "We were young and stupid and thought we knew everything."

"Chris certainly thought he knew everything. You just went along with whatever ridiculous scheme he came up with."

He shook his head. "Chris was fun to be around, especially when he was making fun of Joanna for her goldfish."

"You didn't have to live with the goldfish," Hayley muttered.

"This is why I had my own room my entire college career," Conner added in an undertone. Tommy nodded. It had been a huge adjustment for him, going from being an only child and never having to share to sharing a living space the size of his bedroom from back home. From what Conner had said, he imagined that Conner and Eric never shared a room even in early childhood. So, if he could get his own room, all the better.

"I don't blame you," Tommy replied.

Some shuffling noises came from out in the hallway and Tommy snapped to attention. Most of the hushed conversation that had been going on stopped. The men were out in the hallway arguing about something. He strained to hear the conversation.

"The cops are here," one of them stated.

"And they want us to start releasing hostages."

"Well, what else is new? You think they really want us to keep those sorry pieces of shit back here until we kill them. I thought you knew cops."

"Every hour they don't comply with our request, we kill one of them."

"Sounds good to me. Might even have some fun with that fag back there."

Tommy felt his heart constrict and he glanced to Conner. He had gone pale and his hands were just visibly shaking. He wanted to comfort him somehow, wanted to hold him and tell him that everything would be okay. But that wasn't possible in this situation or ever. In his experience, Conner was the straightest of straight guys. That light brown hair spilled over his forehead and Tommy wanted to brush it back, but he restrained all those urges. The last thing Conner needed was for those terrorists to actually think he was gay when he wasn't.

"Just release one hostage now," one of the terrorists said in a bored voice. "They'll see we're willing to negotiate and we'll still have all the others."

"Fine. Go pick one."

One of the terrorists came into the room fully. Like the others, he had on a ski mask and gloves. The bulky winter clothing hid his true form, but Tommy imagined that he was slightly built unlike the others. He held a machine gun, but it wasn't aimed at anything.

"Damn chink," someone muttered from the hallway. "It doesn't take that long to pick one of those damned hostages!"

The man studied all of them for a moment. Tommy could see his eyes and thought he looked familiar. Maybe he was grasping at straws, looking for a hand and then falling further when he realized there was no friend. The man's gaze fell on him and those dark, almond shaped eyes met his and he winked. Tommy stared at him. He had distinctly winked at him. This was getting way too complicated and weird.

He motioned to Hayley. "You," he said simply. "Come on."

Hayley gave them a frightened look. Tommy nodded at her, not trusting himself to say anything encouraging, not under an unknown gaze coupled with a gun. Conner gently squeezed her hand as she slowly got to her feet.

"Come on," the man repeated. "It's all right. I'm not going to hurt you."

"And I'll hurt you if you don't hurry it up!" someone from the hallway yelled.

The man let out a long sigh. "Just a minute!" he screamed back at them. His eyes went to the little girl clinging to her mother. "Pretend the girl is yours," he said in a hushed tone that wasn't heard in the hallway. "We don't harm children." He looked at the woman. "She'll take the girl and they'll both be safe."

The mother nodded tearfully at the man and hugged her daughter tightly. She kissed the little girl's forehead. "I'll see you soon," she whispered. "I love you." The little girl clung to her mother's neck, until the mother coaxed the child towards Hayley. She ran to Hayley and clung to Hayley's hand and the side of her skirt.

The man led them out.

"I said one."

"It's a mother and daughter. You don't want a rep for harming kids, do you?"

"Fine," a voice said grudgingly.

He heard footsteps down the hallway and even more distant voices of what must have been policemen taking Hayley and that little girl to safety. Tommy wondered why the man had not just sent the mother and the daughter. Why the charade with Hayley?

He glanced to Conner and saw confusion that mirrored his own.

What was going on?

_To Be Continued..._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Special thanks to my reviewers. I understand that there probably won't be too much interest in this story, but I am flattered that a few people are reading and enjoying. :) My normal updating schedule will go into place as well-- those of you that have read one or more of my stories as I was posting it can probably guess what that is. But once more, thanks to my readers! --EK


	3. Centuries Gone By

**Disclaimer:** 'Power Rangers' is property of BVE or someone along those lines. No infringement is intended.

**MAD SEASON**

By Etcetera Kit

**Chapter Three: Centuries Gone By **

The yelling out in the hallway continued. Conner supposed that they were still 'negotiating' with the police. It almost made him wonder what their ultimate goal was, what these people wanted that they felt they needed to hold innocent people hostage. At least Hayley had gotten out. He knew he should have been grateful for that. He felt numb. This madness had caused him to lose his ability to panic or feel scared. Granted, if these morons tried to rape him or kill him, then that sense would come back, but sitting against the wall, he just felt numb.

The terrorist who had released Hayley and the little girl came back into the conference room. Like before, his gun was slung over his shoulder. He wasn't pointing it at any of them. For some reason, Conner felt like he had seen that man before, but he couldn't place where. His gut instinct told him to trust that man and they would make it out of this alive.

The man was talking in a hushed tone to the mother of the little girl. She looked tearfully at him, as if pleading to join her daughter.

He nodded. "Come on," he said softly, gently taking her by the elbow and helping her to her feet. She allowed him to help and let him lead her out to the hallway.

"Thank you," she whispered to the man before she disappeared out of sight.

"Another one? Are you going soft on us, chink?" someone in the hallway asked, venom and spite in his voice.

"No," came the reply. "I think a hostage released on our behalf without demands would look better for our cause."

Conner was starting to wonder what their cause was.

"Fine," he spat. "Take her to the cops."

Footsteps disappeared down the hallway and Conner knew that the mother had been reunited with her daughter. Neither of them and Hayley had to worry about meeting their doom on the receiving end of a machine gun. God, he wanted to see Eric one last time, just to say goodbye. He wondered, if he was killed, if God or whoever was up there would let him come back for a few minutes to say goodbye to his brother and maybe one or two others.

"Damn chink," someone muttered from the hall.

It made him wonder why that man put up with this. Perhaps he was an undercover cop like in all those action movies. That would be cool. Conner could remember a time in his childhood when he had wanted to be a detective. He'd be just like Sherlock Holmes and have a trusty sidekick and a housekeeper and all that fun stuff. Of course, at that point in his life, his conception of Sherlock Holmes had been Basil of Baker Street from that Disney movie. Then his parents enrolled him in the little kid soccer league and that drove all ambitions of forensics straight out of his head.

He felt Tommy lightly touch his arm. He turned and gave his former teacher and teammate a sidelong glance. Tommy had a compassionate look on his face. Everything seemed to hinge on whether or not they made it out of here alive.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"Somewhere between hysteria and a near-death experience."

"That good?"

Conner smiled. For some reason, he had always found it difficult to remain frightened around Tommy. He had an aura of power about him that seemed to tell everyone else that they would remain safe. Perhaps it was just because he had been the longest active ranger. He had served the power that protected them for longer than anyone else. _May the power protect you._ That had been the greeting the early rangers used amongst one another. Tommy had used it with them on one or two occasions. Now, that phrase suddenly made sense. Maybe their inactive power source would keep them safe and protect them. There was no way that the terrorists could know who they were.

His life seemed to have spiraled to the depths of despair and back again in the time he had left Reefside and started at UCLA. The soccer team… the painkillers… the group therapy… the writer's forum… researching his books as a way to cope with it all… his steady girlfriend… exams and papers… subbing in Angel Grove… It all came flooding back to him, showing him that he had pieced his life back together except for the communication problem. And he had come back to where he started from.

The painkillers, oh God… He hadn't thought about those in a long time. He had started taking them during his freshman year, because the other guys on the soccer team had said it took away the pain fast. That much was right. However, he hadn't planned on becoming hooked on them. His girlfriend realized what was going on and forced him to get help before it spiraled out of control to other drugs and his eventual death. Kicking that habit had taken more willpower than he knew he possessed. His therapist from that time had encouraged his writing. And once more, the only person that knew about it was Eric.

Kathleen—Katie-Bug—his steady girlfriend from college… he owed so much to her. They had parted ways amiably after they both initially graduated, both of them realizing that trying to keep up a long distance relationship was going to be too much. He remembered her parting words to him.

_"Conner, if you find another woman—or man—that will love you completely and make you happy, then promise me you won't pass up the opportunity."_

He had promised. However, he had yet to find that person.

"What's on your mind?" Tommy asked softly.

He shook his head. "Nothing much. I was just thinking about everything I went through in college."

Tommy nodded sympathetically. "A lot of crap happened when I was in undergraduate school too. I don't think anyone escapes it unscathed." He paused, giving Conner a searching look that would have made the best compulsive liar shudder. "Care to share?"

"Only if you do."

The former Black Dino Thunder Ranger cracked a smile. "Quid pro quo works for me."

Conner took a deep breath. Perhaps it was time someone other than Eric and Katie knew all about this. "I was hooked on painkillers for a while," he said softly. "Had to break that habit." He shook his head. "It wasn't easy."

There was no condemnation in Tommy's eyes like he would have normally expected from an elder. "Nothing like that ever is," he whispered.

"My girlfriend was there for me and Eric." Something clouded in Tommy's eyes at the mention of his girlfriend, but Conner chose to ignore it. "They both helped me realize some things, sort out my life." He paused. "She was the one that dragged me to those damn writer's forums that started it all."

"Writer's forums?" Tommy looked interested.

Conner sighed, knowing there was no way out of this. "She liked to write poetry and dragged me to the forums with her. One of the guys there lent me some books and I decided that if some guy I had never heard of could write FBI murder mysteries then I could too."

Tommy chuckled a little but remained silent.

"So I started writing. That helped with the therapy too."

"Anything ever come of it?"

He nodded. "Ever read any books by Rex Erickson?"

"That's you?"

Conner nodded. "I suppose you can guess where the pen name came from."

Tommy smiled. The first name came from his primary biozord during their days as rangers and the last name came from his brother. "Those are pretty good books," Tommy said. "I've read a few and I know Ethan loves them. Why didn't you tell us?"

He shrugged. "Like a lot of things that have happened to me, I didn't think that any of you would understand."

"I wouldn't have pictured you as a writer before, but I don't doubt the achievement," he replied. "So what else won't we understand?"

Conner smiled. "Quid pro quo. You tell me something about your undergraduate school years and I'll reveal something else you guys wouldn't understand."

Tommy looked thoughtful for a moment, as though he wasn't quite sure where to start on that tale. Of course, he had gone to college after he had been an active ranger so there had to be some similarities. Although he couldn't see him getting hooked on painkillers like he had. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"I don't know. Any major tragedies, addictions, revelations?"

He snorted. "There were a lot of those." He stopped, that thoughtful expression coming back into his eyes. "That's where I met Hayley."

"Everyone knows that."

"She was the first person I met on campus. I ran into her when we were moving into the dorms—literally."

Conner laughed. "How come nobody told us about this?"

"I don't exactly cherish the memory of plowing her over and causing the box she was holding to tear." He smiled. "Books all over the lawn in front of the dorm." A wistful expression came back into his eyes. "I was disgusted with humanity in general back then. A bunch of frat boys just laughed at her when we went to pick up the books."

"You went to UCLA?"

He nodded. "I spent the entire twelve years on that campus avoiding the fraternities. I never really did have the money to live off campus and Angel Grove was too much of a daily commute. That ruled out living at home."

"So what else happened besides making Hayley's first impression of you a memorable one?"

Tommy sank back into deep thought. Conner looked to the doorway. All of the terrorists seemed to be engaged in whatever it was they were doing. He decided to give Tommy a few minutes to think about what he was going to offer first.

* * *

It was hard to pick out just certain events about his undergraduate years that stood out. Everything had been so intertwined that it had woven itself into a single tapestry telling the story of six people. His undergraduate years had been, mostly, lived vicariously through Billy, who was already married and working out issues of his own. He and Chris used to harass Billy as much as Joanna and Hayley had harassed Trini. 

This mess that ended up as their undergraduate experience actually started when they were still in high school. Trini had left for that peace conference in Switzerland and Billy had started to drift away again, back into the abyss of misery his family created for him. However, Tommy accidentally found out about Billy and Trini's consummation of their relationship before they left. One day during their junior year, he had gone to see Trini and she opened the door, her round belly betraying what she hadn't told them. It would be four years before Billy found out about Mary Anne.

He had still been working out issues of his own—trying to get over Kat, since their parting had not been the best, adjusting to college life and avoiding the frat boys with every iota of his being. The first year at UCLA he and Hayley trudged along with Joanna and Chris, learning college life and growing up from their frivolous high school days.

"Quid pro quo," Conner reminded him in a soft tone.

Tommy looked towards the door. The terrorists were engaged otherwise and not looking in on them. He glanced around at the others still held hostage with them. Most people had their eyes closed and were probably praying to whatever higher power they believed in. Some just looked frightened, their eyes fixed determinedly on one spot. No one was paying any attention to him and Conner.

"I think the biggest tragedy was Trini's death," he said softly.

"Billy's first wife?" Conner asked.

He nodded, having temporarily forgotten that both of them were members of the red ranger distress signal. Conner knew all about Trini from the archives and had probably gleaned a little about her death from Hayley and some of the others. He forced down memories of their final battle with Mesogog, the other gems and the red rangers that had come to help them out. None of the other red rangers knew what both he and Hayley suspected about himself. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell that bunch of straight, macho guys, even if they were fellow distress signal members. Oh, he didn't doubt that at least a few of them would be sympathetic and understanding, but he didn't feel like risking it, especially since he wasn't in a relationship of that nature.

"Trini had a calming effect on all of us," he said softly. "She tried to teach all of us to meditate and contact our 'inner beings.' She loved Mary Anne and Billy so much…" he trailed off.

"What happened to her?"

"She was in a freak car accident." He paused. "She was almost nine months pregnant with Susie. She died instantly, but they managed to save Susie… We were in our senior year of our bachelor's degrees."

"That's horrible."

"I know. Billy graduated with us and then went to the Master's program. It was hard watching him do the schoolwork as the only way to deal with his grief. He holed himself away from the world… I suppose we all did after a while."

He fell silent. Conner didn't say anything. Those three years when all of them had been at UCLA together had been some of the best and strangest years of his life. He had always known that Billy and Trini were closer than they let on, but he had no idea just exactly how close that relationship had become. He had been the catalyst, the one who opened his big mouth when Billy got back from Aquitar and came back to Angel Grove. Of course, over those three years, Billy had always reminded him of his inability to keep his mouth shut. Well… Billy had been correct in that as he thought about what happened with his parents almost four year ago.

All of that was such a long time ago, it seemed like. His more recent memories were of students and things related to Reefside High. Even their problems with Mesogog and their years as rangers dissolved into a hazy past. He had grown used to a life of solitude. He was a single man living in a house in the middle of the woods. He received no visitors and the only time he really interacted with people was when he went to Hayley's or when Hayley browbeat him into shopping trips like the one today.

"Anything else happen?"

Tommy gave Conner a sidelong look. "This is getting rather one-sided. What happened to the 'quid pro quo' thing?"

Conner shrugged.

He suppressed a groan, finding it amusing that, in the midst of danger, they could tune it out and casually reminisce. All those years as rangers must have done something to help with anxiety management.

"I got beat up by some frat boys more than once," he said.

Conner grinned and shook his head. "I suppose I crossed over to the dark side, because I was one of the frat boys for a while. That was before-" He suddenly clamped his mouth shut, like he had been about to say something and thought better of it.

"Before what?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just forget about it."

Tommy gave Conner a curious look. What else had he been hiding from his friends back in Reefside for all these years? He decided to continue with the amusing things that had happened to him during college, not wanting to press Conner for information. "We had a scheme to get rid of our RA for a while." He paused, watching Conner smile. His smiles were always so genuine and lit up the dark corners of the Earth. Conner was the type of person who tended to wear his emotions openly, or he had been. Tommy wondered what was behind the mask. "We filled his room from wall to wall, ceiling to floor with crumpled up newspaper. He immediately suspected us, but there was no evidence against us."

Conner shook his head. "I had a couple of RAs that were intolerable. But we never went to any extremes to get rid of them."

"I wouldn't recommend it."

He watched the younger man sigh, a ghost of a smile over his lips, and lean his head back against the wall. For the first time since he had seen Conner in the food court, Tommy thought he looked tired, defeated. It was almost like he had something weighing on his heart and soul, something elusive that no one needed to know, but that he needed to tell.

'What kind of secrets do you have?' he thought. Who and what had Conner become since he left all of them five years ago? The author thing was not surprising. He had always known that Conner was smarter than he gave himself credit for. But there had to be something else besides the books and the painkillers…

"Release one of the males," came a loud voice from the hallway.

Tommy stopped his wandering thoughts as the man from before, who had made sure Hayley, the mother and the little girl were released came in. He glanced to Tommy and Conner. Tommy made a small gesture in the direction of Conner. The former Red Ranger was too young to die in this horrific situation. The man nodded slightly and winked again. He pointed to Conner.

"Up, boy," he said, his tone carefully neutral. Where had Tommy seen him before?

Conner slowly got to his feet. As he was completing the gesture, another one of the terrorists came in.

"Not him," the man said.

"And why not?" the former replied, sounding bored.

"He's the little fag." The man rubbed his hands together with glee. "He's a detriment to our cause. If we have to start killing, he's staying so we can start with him."

"What about his friend?" The man was wearing a green vest under his bulky winter clothing. He gestured to Tommy.

The other man gave Tommy an appraising look. "Leave him and his friend. They could be some use to us."

Green Vest gave them an almost apologetic look before gesturing to a businessman towards the other end of the room. That man got up quickly and walked fast, as if his freedom could be stripped away at any moment.

Conner sank back down against the wall, his features filling with hurt and dismay. Tommy wanted to know how being a writer automatically made Conner gay. Most of the great authors were male and, if he guessed correctly, these men were some kind of supremacist group, whether that be white supremacist, male supremacist or something else. If only these men knew what kind of books Conner wrote… He shook his head. It looked like soon enough, he was going to get the same label by process of association.

He watched as Conner clenched his fists when the businessman was lead away, leaving them in the room once more.

"How am I a fag because I write?" Conner whispered.

Tommy sighed. "To the narrow-minded, many misconceptions occur."

"It isn't fair."

"Nothing is fair."

Conner gazed at him, his face still hurt, but understanding. Tommy gave him a tentative smile, loving the way his light brown eyes lit up. If only… 'If only you were a little older and felt the same way I did,' he thought. 'I would accept and love you for what you are. You wouldn't have to hide behind a mask. Neither of us would. What's inside us would come out and there would be no shame.'

He wished with all his heart he could say those words aloud.

But he couldn't. There was no way he could destroy the fragile trust that Conner had put back into humanity, the fragile trust that was already splintering under the weight of the accusations of the terrorists.

"I want to get out of here," Conner whispered in a hoarse voice.

"I do too," he replied, "But we have to make the best of the situation. Maybe there's a reason we're here and stuck here."

"You sound like you believe in fate."

He nodded. "Sometimes I do."

Conner fell silent, but he knew that he was still being watched. There was so much he felt that was unfinished and the question was, would he ever be able to do it? 

_To Be Continued..._

* * *

**Author's Note:** As per usual, thanks to my reviewers! You guys are awesome! I would leave a more wordy note, but I'm in the middle of finals... next update will come at the appointed time... if I survive finals! lol --EK 


	4. Protectors of the Right

**Disclaimer:** 'Power Rangers' is property of BVE or someone along those lines. No infringement is intended.

**MAD SEASON**

By Etcetera Kit

**Chapter Four: Protectors of the Right **

_"I go out with girls. You know the ones at school that smell really good with the nice hair and the make-up?"_

_"I can't concentrate with you blowing things up in my ear."_

_"I told him no video games!"_

_"Give me another chance?"_

_"I have you all beat. I'm completely caught up with my homework… but my mom wants me to take her Christmas shopping weekend."_

_"I'd be spaced out too… more than usual."_

_"I have it narrowed down to three lists."_

_"Our little Conner's all grown up."_

_"It's what's inside that counts."_

_"You have to be true to yourself. Others might think that you're being weird at first, but then they'll respect you. Have you ever really wanted to have a new girlfriend every other week?"_

_"Conner, if you find another woman—or man—that will love you completely and make you happy, then promise me you won't pass up the opportunity."_

He had been a Power Ranger. Now it looked like he was going to become the pleasure slave for a group of crazed terrorists and, no matter how much he had grown up, it wasn't going to do anything to save him now. May the power protect him… that was a joke. His morpher and Dino-Gem were back at his apartment. He didn't wear his bracelet anymore, simply because it seemed unnecessary and it brought back memories… too many memories… Maybe he should start wearing the thing again, since bullets didn't penetrate their uniforms. Everyone would have been out of here already.

Conner sighed, wondering if this was going to end.

"You know Chang, you're starting to piss me off."

He shook his head at the loud voice in the hallway. He had a pretty good idea of who they were talking about and it was their one supposed ally. So the guy's name was Chang. It didn't ring any bells with him. At least the man had tried to get him out, even if those morons had foiled his plot.

"I'm just suggesting the obvious. You want the gay marriage laws not to ever exist, then you'd better be ready to make concessions."

"Like what?"

"For starters, you can't eradicate homosexuality all together. People are going to be gay and there is nothing you can do about it."

"I thought that is what this was all about?"

"Then why do you keep threatening to rape that boy?"

Conner bristled inwardly at the diminutive, but kept listening. Their voices grew softer, before Chang started up loudly again.

"This isn't ancient Greece! Anyone who sleeps with someone of the same gender is either considered gay or bi." There was a pause. "Don't tell me you think you can be like a Roman aristocrat and have a wife, along with a mistress and a boy on the side."

The reply was inaudible.

"Jesus Christ, am I working with idiots?"

"We're not idiots, you dumb fuck of a chink. If you'd knock off you're damned Socratic method, we might get something done."

"Just quit threatening to rape a man. That undermines the cause much more than my damned Socratic method will."

"Fine!" Then the man muttered under his breath, "Fucking chink."

"And I suppose since you think all gay people should be crucified, you think that all Asians are smart, successful and like anime?"

"You don't fall into that category."

"It was a metaphor you son of a bitch."

The voices grew soft and inaudible. Conner breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing why knowing their cause made this any easier to deal with. He personally didn't like to interfere with anyone else's rights. People did what they wanted and he didn't care. It was the American way or it had been at one point in time.

He glanced at Tommy and saw a look of glazed fear. He couldn't be sure if it was because of their recent enlightenment or just plain fear. It unnerved him a little to see Tommy afraid, since Tommy had always stayed calm and glued together when they had been active rangers. He had been the one to come up with strategies and plans, while they just wanted to get their zords and turn whatever was bothering them into road kill.

There were so many memories intertwined with their time as active rangers. He had grown up during that time, had learned so many things about himself and the world around him. Ethan and Kira had beat some lessons into his head and Krista had picked up where they left off. Tommy had just been their leader, advising them in a way akin of that of a teacher, parent or respected older sibling. He fought the urge to sigh. His sisters were completely in the dark about him, as were his parents. During high school, he had spent most of his time at soccer practice, with the other rangers or with Eric.

He shifted against the wall, trying to regain some feeling in his legs and rear end. Sitting on an industrial carpeted floor was not exactly comfortable and he wasn't entirely sure exactly how long they had been in here. He turned to face Tommy.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Tommy turned to him, the glazed look receding some. "I just thinking…" He let the statement trail off and gave a pointed glance to the others sitting near them within ear shot. Conner didn't have to be told what he was thinking of—his years as a Power Ranger.

"Those were some great times," Conner said softly.

The former Black Ranger nodded. "They were." He paused. "It's strange how we never realized the danger then. We always assumed that we would come out on top."

He was right. They had always morphed and counted on that to protect them in the face of certain doom. The only times when the danger seemed real was when they had involuntarily powered down during a battle. That had only happened a few times, mostly when they were facing the evil White Ranger. The naked fear had shone in those moments. But it wasn't like now, when someone else held all the cards. _Take a chance on a promise, take a roll of the dice…_ They had taken a huge gamble becoming rangers, but all that experience and close calls as rangers could never have prepared them for this.

"We did," he agreed. And they had always had some kind of advantage or held some sort of incentive for their enemies. They had bargaining chips… But here there were no bargaining chips. They were floating, almost drowning and hoping that a friend would come.

"You guys were so funny in the early days," Tommy said softly. "All of you so different, yet trying to forge friendships and getting used to… what we were."

"We were lucky to have you," Conner whispered. "We would have been lost without that kind of leadership."

Tommy smiled. "I like to think I did something to help you guys."

"All of us grew up, learned who we were." He shook his head. "Nothing can replace that lesson. I hate to imagine what would have happened otherwise."

"You all probably would have remained with what you had been doing, never being aware of one another, never becoming friends." He paused. "I used to think it was all my fault, if I hadn't done that island research, hadn't let Anton work on that formula…"

"You couldn't have predicted that."

"No," Tommy agreed. "But some good did come of it."

Conner didn't answer, he just smiled. If he had remained a soccer player and a dumb jock, what he learned about himself in college would have remained buried, never to see the light of day. Indirectly, he supposed, because he had been a ranger, he had also become a writer and learned about what he really was.

"So what did you get out of it?" he asked. Tommy looked thoughtful.

"I learned that I would make a terrible parent."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Conner snickered. "You wouldn't have made a bad parent," he said, still chuckling a little. "I could think of worse people to have as a parent."

"Anton?"

Conner grinned, nodding. He felt sorry for Trent, having to put up with his father changing from Anton to Mesogog and back again and having to keep that secret. He wasn't sure he would have been able to cope if it had been him instead of Trent.

"Let's just kill all these damn hostages and be done with it."

He froze at the voice in the hallway and felt Tommy tense next to him. These terrorist were not going to start a killing spree were they?

"Can't do that," came the familiar voice of Chang. "Do you want their blood on your hands?"

"No one is yielding. The government people we want haven't come."

"No, they haven't."

"It's been an hour. We said we would kill one every hour our requests didn't go through."

"So?" Change said in a bored voice. "Kill one. Just know that you're killing innocent people who didn't want to get involved in this."

One of the other terrorists came into the room, his gun aimed at them. Conner felt panic seize him as the gun barrel passed by him. The man aimed the gun at a businessman huddled in the corner and pulled the trigger.

* * *

A loud gunshot echoed through the small room, causing a sharp pain in his ears. He closed his eyes without knowing exactly what he was doing. Words and images came dancing back to him in a charade that didn't seem to end. 

_"It's morphin' time—Dragon-Zord."_

_"Time to wake up, Beautiful."_

_"It's morphin' time—Tiger Zord."_

_"Ninjetti—the falcon."_

_"Nice to meet you, Tommy, I'm Katherine."_

_"Zeo Ranger 5—Red."_

_"Shift into turbo—red lightening turbo power."_

_"TJ, if it weren't for your courage and strength, I wouldn't be standing here. I choose you to lead the team as the new red ranger."_

_"Guys, this is going to be a very dangerous misson, butI can't force you to go. This is a decision you have to make on your own."_

_"We've been talking and decided we need a distress signal."_

_"No man who is completely straight can decorate a house this well."_

_"I know you three come from different worlds, I get it. But you're going to have to work together. Please."_

_"I may be old, but I can still pull it off."_

_"Dino thunder, power up! Brachio!"_

_"Some of your biggest blessing are unanswered prayers…"_

He didn't quite realize Conner was shaking him, until he felt a sharp jab between the ribs. "Ow," he muttered, reaching down to rub his side. He opened his eyes and met Conner's panicked stare. Those light brown eyes were glazed with fear. He was shaking. Tommy looked over to the businessman. He was slumped against the wall, eyes closed. If it hadn't been for the large wound in his chest and the blood spattered on the walls around him, he might have been able to convince himself that he had just fainted or was sleeping.

Bile rose in his throat. He forced it down, not wanting to be sick in front of these terrorists and give them a reason to target him for more abuse. He gently touched Conner's arm, getting his attention and nodding slightly to get him to stop looking at the dead man. There was nothing they could do.

Tommy softly sang the song of sorrow that David had taught him. He felt relieved when the soft words caused Conner's panic to recede and he felt the younger man next to him relax, some of the tension leaving his body.

None of them wanted to die.

He wished he had his bracelet, even if it was debatable whether or not the gem still held any of the power. He had stopped wearing the bracelet a few years ago—when all of the Dino Rangers left Reefside. It meant nothing to anyone outside of that group and seemed pointless when the others were gone. Now, he saw the value of always wearing one's morpher. Even if it seemed paranoid to other rangers, it paid off in the long run.

"I didn't expect him to do it," Chang said softly.

Tommy looked up at the man in the green vest. He hadn't even noticed that Chang had come back in the room. The man was shaking his head slowly.

"No one was supposed to die, but those guys are trigger-happy." Those dark almond-shaped eyes alighted on him once more. "Don't worry," he said to himself and Conner, low enough that only they could hear. "I'll make sure you get out of here alive."

"Why should we trust you?" Conner snapped, his voice shaking.

"Because you trusted me once, years ago," Chang replied.

"Who are you?" Tommy asked.

Chang shook his head. "You'll find out soon enough." He stood up and walked out of the room, to the hallway where the other terrorists were gathered.

Tommy felt Conner's gaze, rather than seeing it. "Do we know him?" Conner asked softly.

"I don't know. He seems familiar, but I can't place him."

Conner didn't reply, but Tommy could see the gears turning through his head, trying to figure out where he knew someone with blatantly Asian eyes like Chang. He was starting to get the feeling that Chang was not the man's real name.

"Stop coddling them," a voice said from the hallway. "They have to know the danger of the situation, what can really happen to them." That obviously had been in the direction of Chang.

"Killing was not a part of this," Chang replied angrily.

"It was a part of this from the first bullet fired in the food court," was the reply.

Tommy felt ill. The chance that he or Conner would walk out of here alive was suddenly starting to seem slimmer and slimmer. If one of them were to pull a trigger on him, would he have any regrets, things he wanted to do differently? Well… that was a big question. The only thing in his life that he wasn't slightly sorry or ashamed of was becoming a ranger. Everything else—his past girlfriends, his friends, even his degrees—held a taint. He felt like something could have been done better in all those situations. At least when certain people had come back into his life, like Billy, they hadn't expected things to be as they were. They seemed to understand that he was not the same person he had been in high school.

So many people had come in and out of his life in an intricate dance that dazzled him every time he thought of it. Kim, the first person he ever met when he moved to Angel Grove, or more, the first person to befriend him… Kat, his second girlfriend and the catalyst for the final stake in the coffin that sent him to Academia… Billy and Trini, coming back into his life at UCLA and showing him that seeming mistakes could become joys and blessings… Hayley, his first friend on the UCLA campus and constant companion and support from their undergraduate years and into the present… and then finally, Conner, Ethan, Kira and Trent, the four teenagers that showed him that he could not escape any stage of his life, no matter how hard he tried.

No. In the long run, he really couldn't decide what he would have done differently if he had it to do all over again. If something fell out of the picture, he wouldn't be where he was today and he was perfectly happy where he was. He glanced to Conner. Well, maybe 'perfectly happy' wasn't the right term. He was content.

Conner started shaking again.

Oh God, Conner was not going to hyperventilate, was he? He gently laid a hand on Conner's shoulder. "Breath," he said in a soothing voice. "You're not going to be able to think clearly if you don't breath."

The younger man slowly took some deep breaths. Tears stained his cheeks. Tommy mentally kicked himself for spacing out while Conner had been crying. He gently placed his hand under Conner's chin, forcing him to look straight at him. He hoped that the gesture seemed innocent enough to Conner. The last thing Conner needed was for him to start hitting on him. That would put his nervous system into overdrive and no one wanted to deal with hysterics. And that guy out in the hallway would probably just shoot him.

Using his thumbs, he gently wiped the fresh tears away from Conner's cheeks. Conner looked stunned and, if Tommy was seeing things correctly, a bit pleased. Was there something that he had overlooked, underestimated in his former student? They were so close. It would be so easy to lean forward and kiss him, taste those silky lips against his. He could feel the heat from Conner's body, smell his cologne and shampoo. He wanted to so badly. The ache seemed to go to the depths of his soul, as he struggled mentally.

In the end, after a few very long moments, he fought the urge and didn't do what he so badly wanted to. He settled back, minutely away from Conner. Disappointment clouded those light brown eyes. Tommy felt confusion creep up into his mind. What was going on? Hadn't Conner been the chick magnet? The girl crazy one?

"We have an audience with the governor," came Chang's voice.

"Fine, release more of them, but keep the two fairies."

A bolt of panic hit his stomach. There was no doubt that the man had been talking about himself and Conner. Chang walked into the room. Like all the other times, his gun was casually over his shoulder and not pointed at anything. He gave them an apologetic look, before motioning to two teenaged girls who had obviously been enjoying their Christmas break before this. Tommy wished that he would take off the mask, so he could see who was trying to earnestly to help them.

He heard footsteps retreat and come back. "You don't know that those two are fairies," Chang said in a nonchalant tone.

"Do you know of any straight men that are writers?"

"Yes." Chang's reply must have stopped him in his tracks, because there was silence from the hallway.

Tommy took a deep breath, trying to coax some feeling back into his legs. Chang walked into the room and went to the conference table. As he leaned over the table, rummaging through the pile of cell phones, wallets, purses and keys, a necklace fell out of his shirt. It looked like a normal enough thing on a black cord, kind of like those mood necklaces that girls wore… He sucked in a breath. It was the samurai amulet.

No… It couldn't be the samurai amulet. That belonged to Cam Wantanabe and he was a teacher at the Wind Ninja Academy in Blue Bay Harbor. Who was this guy? Had he helped the terrorists rampage through that school and kept the amulet as a token of conquest?

That couldn't be it either. He would have known if something happened to the Wind Ninja Academy, because he would have been the first one they contacted.

_Things are not always as they seem…_

Perhaps, if one masqueraded as a teacher at a ninja academy, with the support of one's supposed fellow staff, one could actually be some kind of undercover agent for the police or the FBI or something along those lines.

Chang turned to him and smiled briefly, before gathering up the two purses and walking out of the room.

Tommy had to keep himself from saying something aloud.

Cam?

_To Be Continued..._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Ah-- the quotes aren't exact. I didn't have the time to match them directly with what happens on the show, but I shall go back and do that with the next update. Finals are over! Yah! sticks tongue out at college No more of you until next semester! But as per usual, thanks to all my reviewers. And if you guys want to know anything or ask me a specific question about this fic then please e-mail me. I don't have the review alert e-mails turned on, so I have to come here to check for reviews and its highly unlikely that I'll get back to you with a question. So please e-mail me! You guys rock! --EK 


	5. Speed of the Wind

**Disclaimer:** 'Power Rangers' is property of BVE or someone along those lines. No infringement is intended.

**MAD SEASON**

By Etcetera Kit

**Chapter Five: Speed of the Wind **

Conner looked around the conference room. More hostages had been released than he had originally thought. Perhaps the dwindling numbers escaped him because everyone had been so scattered around the room. Now the large gaps between people and the lack of nervous conversation struck him more than ever. One dead. At least there was only one casualty and not more. There could have been so many more…

And Chang… Cam… whoever he was seemed to genuinely want to help them. Did he become some kind of undercover agent? That explained why he had gotten Hayley, the girl and her mother out so quickly. It also explained why he had attempted to get them out, but he was thwarted by the terrorists. Conner also figured it would be in his and Tommy's best interest to keep the fact that they suspected something under wraps.

"That was the samurai amulet," Tommy muttered.

"You've said that already," Conner reminded him. The few remaining others in the room looked at them like they were nuts for conversing in the face of such a tense situation. He honestly didn't see what the big deal was. Maybe they thought he and Tommy were in denial and needed mental help. Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone had asked him if he had seen his therapist lately.

"I know," he whispered in reply. "But it doesn't make any sense. Why would Cam have gone to such an elaborate charade?"

"If he is undercover," Conner hissed. "Then he probably doesn't have much choice."

Tommy gave him an appraising look. "How do you know?"

"Murder mystery writer, remember?" He tapped his temple. "I had to do a lot of research on the FBI and their methods, especially surrounding undercover agents."

The former Black Ranger smiled. "Sorry. I temporarily forgot. It's hard to imagine you as a writer in the larger scope of things."

"That's not the only thing people have a hard time with," he muttered.

Tommy looked genuinely concerned and surprised. "What else?"

He shook his head. "You don't want to hear about it."

"Why?"

"Do you really want me to tell you I'm bisexual?"

The minute those words came spilling out his mouth, he regretted it. He hadn't meant to say that aloud. The shocked look on Tommy's face was enough to let him know that he was dealing with a straight man who hadn't had previous dealings with people who pronounced themselves gay or bi. A sick feeling settled into the pit of his stomach. Now that Tommy knew, the rest of the group would know and then the rest of the red rangers and his ostracism really would begin. He'd only have Eric to talk to and end up old and alone living in a house on a hill with a million cats… even if that was only stereotypical of old ladies. He'd be the first old man to do it. He wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.

"I was beginning to think I was the only one."

Conner snapped to attention, swiveling his head around to face Tommy so that any observer might have assumed he had given himself whiplash. "Wha-what?" he stammered.

Tommy gave him a sidelong glance, his features carefully neutral. "You heard me," he said in a tone of voice Conner knew for a fact he only used with disruptive students.

He gaped for a minute, his jaws working for a reply, but nothing came. He settled for the first question that came to mind. "How long?"

Tommy sighed. "I've been accused of it since college. However, I came to the realization about five years ago."

"When we all went to college."

He nodded, no change in his expression. "It didn't have anything to do with you guys specifically, but I didn't want to be thinking about it around high school kids." He paused. "What about you?"

"I was in college. Early on my girlfriend accused me of it." He shook his head. "I've never been with a guy, I've just been thinking about it."

"Join the club," Tommy replied wryly.

Conner didn't know why, but a warmth spread over his entire body. It wasn't just because he was starting to find his former science teacher and teammate extraordinarily attractive… for a guy. It was nice to know that the man he had previously viewed as completely straight and someone who wouldn't understand… did. It was like finding a kindred spirit in a vast wasteland where no one spoke the same language. He shouldn't have been so happy to find out that Tommy was bisexual—he was still his science teacher from high school and at least ten years older than him. Perhaps his earlier idea of kissing him in some other situation had not been quite all that farfetched.

And he was aware once more of how close they were. He could feel that same heat radiating from Tommy's body and smell his cologne… God, if only they hadn't come to this under these circumstances. He would have gone back to being authoritative and bold in his love life and thrown Tommy down and made love to him right then and there. How, he wasn't entirely sure, but how difficult could it be? Unfortunately, they were still hostages held by some terrorists. To add to that, he wasn't even sure if Tommy felt remotely attracted to him. Maybe he was. Maybe what he was interpreting as mixed signals was nothing more than an old friend being concerned about him.

He softly touched Tommy's knee, withdrawing his hand the moment it made contact with the soft denim of his jeans. "Hey," he whispered. "Have you ever been attracted to a man?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering."

Tommy took a breath and slowly exhaled. "I think I have. However, I just never recognized it for what it was."

"Who?"

"You sure have gotten nosey."

Conner shrugged. "It's what happens when you become a writer. You suddenly learn to question everything, because you have to question it for your characters."

"Have you been attracted to a man?" he said evasively, neatly sidestepping the question. He inwardly groaned. Perhaps this heart-to-heart, baring their souls thing wasn't going as completely honest as he had thought.

"I don't know," he replied. "I think I have."

"Nice answer," Tommy muttered. Conner grinned, knowing that his answer had been almost identical to Tommy's.

"I aim to please."

"And the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

His mind froze for a moment, the implications of what Tommy was saying weighing down on him. There was a reason no one beyond Eric and Kathleen knew that he was bisexual. There was a good reason for it. He didn't want to be ostracized and… alone. If there was one thing he had learned about himself during college, it was that his biggest fear was ending up alone and unwanted in life. Maybe that was the real reason he had played the part of the dumb jock womanizer for so long—it got him attention and love, however superficial.

"Listen, Conner," Tommy said softly. "Just don't get hurt."

He drew in a deep breath. "I'm going to get hurt, no matter what I do." He paused. "I can't hide forever. I don't _want_ to hide forever."

"No one wants to hide," Tommy agreed. "Just don't advertise."

"I thought this was California."

His former science teacher motioned to the terrorists in the hallway. Conner nodded, understanding what he meant. It didn't matter how liberal a society either of them lived in, they would still endure some ostracism. His thoughts went to the other members of the red ranger distress signal. Would any of them understand and still accept them if they knew?

"Release some more hostages," came a voice from the hallway.

Chang—Cam—came into the conference room, another apologetic look on his face as he glanced at the pair of them. Conner almost wanted to tell him to stop that. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't get them out as easily as he had gotten Hayley out. He motioned to a group of middle-aged women in one corner.

"Come on," he said to them.

Conner glanced into the corner and saw the women fearfully get up. He suppressed a shudder as he glanced passed the body… he was glad one of the terrorist had thought enough to scare up a tarp and cover it. He leaned heavily against the wall, grateful for Tommy's presence if nothing else.

He was confused as the women left the room, following Chang. What did he feel for Tommy or about anyone for that matter? He wanted Tommy, but was it something more? Was it worth risking everything both of them had worked so hard for? Maybe… but he couldn't be sure of anything until he could figure out what Tommy felt for him. That whole incident with wiping his tears away led him to believe something.

"You all right?" Tommy asked softly.

He nodded. "I'll be fine."

"Conner…" He trailed off, his hand going to the back of Conner's neck, massaging gently and stroking his hair at the same time. Conner sighed and closed his eyes, reveling in the sensations—Tommy's fingers touching his skin. He felt Tommy's thumb come around his neck to trace his jaw line. He opened his eyes and caught Tommy's gaze. Those dark eyes were smoldering with a fiery passion. His breathing hitched.

Tommy suddenly pulled his hand away like something had bit him. That passion immediately faded from his eyes and was replaced with something akin to horror and self-loathing.

"You didn't have to stop," he whispered.

"No," Tommy replied, shaking his head. "It's not right."

Conner didn't reply, disappointment and frustration creeping upon him. Why couldn't life be simple and _fair_?

* * *

Tommy inwardly smacked himself at the greatly disappointed look that settled over Conner's face. Why did he have to pull away when Conner obviously had no objections? Well, because Conner was ten years younger than him and had no idea what he was getting himself into. He may have matured, learned some things about himself, gone on to shock everyone with his true literary career… but he did not know what he was doing. Hell, he wasn't even sure what he was doing in this situation. How could they both just stumble blindly into something that needed much more thought than this?

It had been a shock for Conner to admit to being bisexual. That was the last thing that Tommy had been expecting to come out of his mouth. Sure, the books and the painkillers had been a shock enough, but that… the only logical thing to do in that situation was to assure Conner that he was not the only one struggling with it. Now he wasn't sure if that had been the smartest thing to do. What was this sudden attraction? He had been Conner's high school science teacher for Christ's sake! He had graded his papers, given him Cs because he felt sorry for him, watched him botch relationships and repair them, heard him say scathing things to Kira and Ethan and then wonder why they were mad at him… He had truly known Conner when he was still a child. He had no idea who the man sitting next to him was.

Sure, he knew the base facts. Conner was a writer, author of an extremely popular mystery series, and he was going to be an English teacher and soccer coach at an elite boys' prep school in Reefside. He had been addicted to painkillers. He had had precisely one girlfriend since college and was bisexual. That meant nothing in the long run. He thought back to his previous relationships—he had known lots of pointless things about the girls before he dated them, like how they took their coffee, what their favorite color was, their favorite song and drink, their favorite place to think… hell, he had even known if they liked their feet or their back rubbed. Now… did he know anything about Conner that would be helpful in a relationship?

He cleared his throat. "How do you drink your coffee?" he asked. The words came out quickly and he stumbled over them. God, now he was going to start acting like a high schooler again. What was next, blushing?

Conner snapped his head to face him, a confused look on his face. "Why?" His voice was guarded and he looked almost… angry.

Tommy shrugged, expelling a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding. If Conner was mad, that meant there was still hope, didn't it? "I was just wondering," he replied, making sure his words were carefully neutral.

That angry, guarded look on Conner's face slowly melted, as if he knew what Tommy was trying to accomplish, as if he knew Tommy were trying to make amends. "Black," he replied slowly. "Unless I'm at Starbucks and can get a white chocolate mocha." He paused. "But that depends on if I have the money for it." Conner gave him a tentative smile. "Why? How do you drink yours?"

He shrugged. "Black. I don't go to Starbucks though."

Conner gaped at him. "That's a crime against nature," he muttered.

"That's what you think."

"So now that we're playing Twenty Questions, what else do you want to know?" He paused and looked thoughtful. "Now that we've established you don't want me."

"I never said that," Tommy snapped. "This just needs more time."

Conner glanced to the door. "Unfortunately that is the one thing we don't have." He gave him a sidelong glance. "So, what else do you need to know?"

The subtle rephrasing of the question did not go unnoticed by Tommy. "I think I know what your favorite color is…" Conner grinned, absently plucking at the red shirt with a loose plaid pattern on it he was wearing. "So where do you go to think?"

"My laptop," Conner replied promptly.

"Really?" Tommy raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," the former Red Ranger said enthusiastically. "It's where all my writing and stuff is. If I need to think, I go there and things usually sort themselves out."

"Interesting."

"Writer," Conner claimed. "Can I ask a question?" he asked, not waiting for a reaction from Tommy to his latest answer.

"Sure," he replied.

"Do you think I'm hot?"

If he had been drinking something, he would have choked on it. He gave Conner an incredulous look. Conner just flashed him a patented look of pure innocence. How in the world was he supposed to answer a question like that objectively? He glanced at Conner and glanced away, not daring to let his eyes linger on that eager, hungry expression any longer. He closed his eyes, hoping it would be under the pretense of a headache. But he could still see him clearly when he closed his eyes. Those light brown eyes, strong features, wavy brown hair that curled just a little at the ends… and that didn't say anything of items below his shoulders… Was he supposed to be acting like a horny teenager here?

"I suppose," he replied, purposely making the response airy and noncommittal.

Conner's jaw dropped in indignation. "What kind of an answer is that?" he sputtered.

Tommy grabbed a handful of fabric at Conner's shoulder and pulled him close enough so that he could say his response directly in his ear, since the few other remaining hostages had started listening into their conversation in interest. "I don't want an audience," he whispered in Conner's ear, his voice tight with controlled anger and practiced patience.

"Why?" Conner asked. Instead of looking like feigned innocence, he looked more curious and interested.

"Am I supposed to tell everyone here that I think you should be the poster boy for hot gay sex?" He said it directly into Conner's ear, almost laughing as Conner squirmed went hot breath went directly into his ear. He glanced up at the other hostages, but they appeared to have lost interest.

When Conner registered what he had said, he pulled back, blinking in surprise and shock, his mouth hanging open. "Really?" His voice was small and timid.

He relented under that slightly scared look on Conner's face. "Yes," he replied, feeling tired. He closed his eyes and rubbed them. He was so confused. What was going on with him? Was he supposed to tell Conner something like that? It appeared that both of them couldn't stop things from coming out of their mouths today.

"Get the rest," a loud voice came from the hallway.

Tommy suddenly snapped to attention, the reality of the situation coming back to him in vivid colors. This was not the time or the place to be talking about whether or not he found Conner attractive. Why did he manage to forget that the minute Conner started talking?

Chang walked into the room and gestured to some people huddled in one corner and a random shopper or two left. Tommy looked around as he led them out of the room. All of the hostages had been released except for them. He listened to the footsteps fading, distant voices… soon the footsteps returned. Chang came back in the room.

"They're negotiating," he said in a neutral tone.

"Who are you?" Tommy asked.

Chang growled softly and pulled his ski mask off. That revealed a slightly frazzled man with Asian features and messy black hair and eyes. It was Cam Wantanabe… Tommy broke into a smile, watching Conner mirror the expression. Conner knew who Cam was from the archives and having met him once or twice when Hayley called him in for backup technical support.

"Cam," Tommy said softly.

Cam gave a reluctant smile. "Tommy," he replied with a nod. "Conner," he said in the direction of the former Red Ranger.

"What are you doing here?" Tommy asked.

To his surprise, Cam scowled. "I was sent here. Undercover FBI agent."

"You're an FBI agent?" Conner said loudly.

Cam shushed him. "No one's supposed to know that." He paused and sighed. "This was not supposed to be this complicated. I was supposed to temper them so that no one would get hurt." His eyes flicked to the corpse. "But things got complicated."

"How?" Conner questioned.

He shook his head. "I hadn't expected either of you or Hayley to be some of the hostages. I tried to get you out, but they want to teach you guys a lesson."

"How did Tommy get labeled in all this too?" Conner asked sarcastically.

Cam gave him a sharp look. "Process of association. They listened in on that lovely heart-to-heart the two of you were having. They may be stupid, but they're not deaf." He paused, shaking his head. "I don't care if you guys are bi and want to be lovers, that's your business… But be careful. Don't talk about it anymore and, for God's sake, do not try to kiss or anything."

Tommy nodded. "Will we get out of here?"

"Hopefully," Cam said slowly. "Things may get ugly first. I have no problem opening fire on them if it comes to that. But there's only one of me and a bunch of them."

"We wouldn't win in a fire-fight."

"No. The governor is offering generous terms for them, if you two are released unharmed." He sighed. "I don't know if that is going to happen."

"CHANG!" came an annoyed voice from down the hall.

"That's my exit cue," Cam whispered, pulling his ski mask into place. "Be careful," he repeated. "And do not act like you know me."

They both nodded as Cam stood up and walked out of the conference.

"Damn, chink! We need you to take a vote."

"Cool it! I'm coming!"

Tommy met Conner's gaze. This was starting to look more and more hopeless. He only hoped that Cam would be as successful as he thought he was going to be. If there was anyone who could help them it was Cam.

He leaned back against the wall. He was confused and was getting a headache.

_To Be Continued..._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry I'm a bit late with this update-- but I had to drive home for Christmas break and then deal with the fact that at home we only have dial-up. No spiffy cable like at school. Also, thanks to Warstock Leonhart for helping with the quotes. I do have all the quotes I used on DVD somewhere. The problem was finding time before now to sit down with the DVDs and check my work. And thanks to all my reviewers for this particular story. You guys are the best! --EK 


	6. Sworn To Fight

**Disclaimer:** 'Power Rangers' is property of BVE or someone along those lines. No infringement is intended.

**MAD SEASON**

By Etcetera Kit

**Chapter Six: Sworn to Fight **

They were the only ones left. Conner looked dismally around the room. Cam had almost promised to get them out alive, but there were complications. He knew all too well what the complications could be—he had only written about them for the past four years. God, how could they have forgotten themselves to the extent that they started talking about their sexual orientation, after they had heard what the terrorists wanted? He felt stupid and really naïve. How could he have gotten it in his head that none of the terrorists were listening to them?

There were so many things he wanted to ask Tommy, but he didn't dare utter any of them. Not after what Cam had told them. He glanced to Tommy, knowing that he was thinking the same thing. Could a relationship between them work or were they just projecting their fears and passions onto one another? He decided that the flippant approach would be best. The terrorists were still down the hall—he was fairly certain of that.

"Tommy?"

"What?" he grunted in reply.

"Can I have a hug?"

Tommy's head whirled to face him. He sighed. "After what Cam told us? You don't know where those guys are."

"They're taking a vote down the hall and apparently they need everyone there." He paused and gave Tommy his patented 'puppy dog eyes' expression. "Please?" he begged, not so much because he wanted what the advance that meant, but because he just wanted the closeness, the feel of another person near him.

"Can't argue with that logic," Tommy muttered.

"Well?" Conner asked, cocking his head towards Tommy.

"Fine," Tommy growled.

Conner wasn't sure who started it, but some one must have opened his arms and leaned in first. He didn't contemplate that. He just concentrated on the strong arms that held him close and the all-too masculine chest pressed against his. It was strange… and yet somehow more exciting. It was definitely strange to be hugging a man who was closer to his height than any of the girls he had dated… and just strange be in such an embrace with a man. He decided that he could definitely get used to it though. Perhaps, he mused to himself, all relationships should start out with base gestures before moving up and on.

He inhaled Tommy's unique scent. He wanted this… but he was so confused. Tommy was right—they really didn't know each other. Was it just a base attraction, both of them having found a kindred spirit or was it more? Could either of them deal with the consequences of a relationship, deal with the isolation from family and friends who were bound to react badly? Life was not a fairy tale—he learned that more and more as the years marched on, but couldn't just one part of life be a fairy tale? Couldn't just one thing have a happy ending and a magic to it that was only seen in the movies?

No… nothing would be a fairy tale for them.

"Conner?" Tommy mumbled.

"Yeah," he asked.

"Are either of us willing to do this?" he said softly, pulling away from the embrace, his dark eyes meeting Conner's. Despite the disappointment that he had pulled away so soon, Conner was pleased to note that his hands were still on his waist.

He expelled a long breath. "I don't know." He paused. "My rational mind says that it's too risky, but my emotional mind doesn't care."

Tommy gave him a small smile. "You definitely have picked up a grasp of language since high school."

"It happens to the best of us." He paused. "Maybe we can work something out. I don't know about coming out just yet… Well, Cam knows…"

"Cam's a discreet person," Tommy replied. "He probably won't tell much of anyone until we decide to tell them ourselves."

"So do we have a relationship?" Conner asked, trying not to sound too incredibly eager. He wouldn't mind being with a gorgeous older man who he was fairly certain he could have intelligent conversations with.

Tommy sighed, a sad expression coming over his features. "Let's do this one thing at time. If we get out of here unscathed, we'll talk."

Conner didn't know if he should feel relieved or disappointed. He settled for nodding in agreement, masking his conflicting emotions. Tommy did have a rational way of settling things. Both of them seemed to have been caught up in the heat of the moment—a life-threatening situation already made them edgy, but confessing they were attracted to each other had put those emotions in overdrive. He was right. They needed to get away from the situation and decompress before they decided anything.

And who would they tell if the relationship became serious? His brother definitely, but the rest of his family… he could see their reaction now and it wasn't pretty. Hayley, sure and Cam already knew. But their fellow Dino Thunder Rangers? The fellow distress signal reds? Those both seemed like an impossibility. Oh sure, none of them had anything against gay or bi people, but when it knocked on their front door in the form of two of their closest friends with a pretty big age gap… their reaction might not be the best he could possibly hope for.

He shook his head, settling back against the wall. Tommy released and leaned back, their thighs touching. He was all too aware of the contact. He was building things on a 'what if' here. There were no guarantees. Hell, they didn't even know if they were going to get out of here alive. He really wished he had brought his bracelet.

"Wish we could morph," Conner whispered.

Tommy gave him a bored look. "Technically we still can morph. The only concern would be that the computers and Dino Thunder Morphing Grid are shut down. I can't be sure that we would be able to power up without that link."

And the science teacher mode kicked in. Conner shook his head. He still wished he had his bracelet, even if it was negotiable whether or not it worked. "Can Cam morph?" he asked softly.

The former Black Ranger shook his head. "No. The Ninja Rangers got their morphers out of the Abyss of Evil, but there was no power left in them." He paused. "I think Hayley said he wears it out of habit."

"Can anyone still morph?"

"Some," Tommy replied. "Most of the former reds. However, all of them are pretty far from here."

How could he have forgotten? Almost all of the former red rangers who were part of the distress signal could morph. Notably was Wes and Eric, who used their morphing powers in their job as Silver Guardians. Andros and TJ could along with Ashley. He was pretty sure that Jason had some strange way of tapping into his powers and Leo and Kendrix both had their Quasar Sabers. Carter still had his Lightspeed morpher. Cole was the one exception.

However, it looked like they were screwed.

He glanced at the table. There was no sign of the terrorists in the hallway—they were probably still having their vote. He could easily get up and get his cell phone calling… someone. He didn't know who, but someone was bound to come to mind. Resolutely, he pushed himself to his feet, his cramped muscles screaming at the movement. He was not entirely sure how long they had been sitting against that wall. His backside was numb and he wobbled a little as he crossed the room to the table in two steps.

"Conner!" Tommy hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Getting my cell phone," he hissed back. He shuffled through the pile and found his cell phone easily enough—it was the only one with a red case. He flipped it open—he still had some battery and was getting reception in here.

"Who are you going to call?" Tommy asked. "Who can really help us in this situation?"

Conner shook his head, scrolling through his phonebook. Why the hell did he have the numbers for the Ninja Storm Rangers in here? Then he remembered that Tommy had given them that contact information just in case they needed a hand. He racked his memory about which one of them would be the most able to help. Suddenly, something Eric had told him clicked. He pressed a speed dial number.

"Who are you calling?" Tommy pseudo-repeated.

He just shook his head again. The phone rang several times before someone picked it up and offered a proper greeting.

"It's Conner McKnight," he said.

"Put that damn phone down!"

Freezing, he turned to see some of the terrorists standing in the door of the conference room. He slowly put the phone down on the table, but didn't hang it up. One of the machine guns was aimed straight at him.

"Damn, chink!" someone screamed to Cam. Conner wondered why he put up with the racial slur all the time. "Leave them alone and they'll be fine? Piece of shit!"

"I told you a mall food court was the wrong place to do this," Cam replied calmly. "I also told you we needed a bigger venue than Reefside."

Conner inwardly smiled. Cam had obviously noticed that he hadn't hung up the phone and was trying to provide whoever was on the other end with the information to get here. He didn't let the relief wash over him. His eyes focused on the gun still aimed at him. His hands were raised to his shoulders and he had no idea why.

"Shut-up, Chang!" one of them growled.

"I've had enough from the uppity fag," another added. "Let's just teach him a lesson and then get rid of them."

Conner tried not to show his panic. He had a feeling that 'get rid of them' did not mean release them to the police like the other hostages. He thought of the dead man and felt ill. Someone grabbed his shirt and threw him on the ground. He couldn't help but remember when Tommy had grabbed his shirt, but it had been in a good way. He closed his eyes, hoping that the person on the other end of his phone could do something.

Something cold and hard pressed into the center of his back.

* * *

What happened next came in a blur. One of the terrorists threw Conner down on the ground and another aimed a gun at him. Tommy heard the sickening thud and the labored breathing that came from Conner. He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the screaming protest from his muscles. His heart was beating an irregular rhythm. 

"Leave him alone!" he yelled.

"Sit down," someone screamed.

Something hard and solid hit the side of his face. He staggered back from the blow, black spots dancing before his eyes as a dull pain spread over the side of his face. Using the wall as a support, he braced himself from falling over. It had been a long time since he had been in hand-to-hand combat, but he hadn't forgotten what to do.

"There's already been enough damage," he heard Cam crying out distantly. "One person is dead and if more are harmed, how do you think things are going to go over?"

"Who the hell's side are you on?"

"I don't believe in hurting innocents."

"None of us do, but these two aren't innocent."

"You don't know that!"

Tommy blinked, focusing his eyes on Cam. The man looked desperate and scared, like he hoped that he could stop the situation, but wasn't sure he could. For the first time, he noticed that Cam had a strong and proper grip on his gun. Oh God, this was going to deteriorate into a full-fledged fire fight.

"I told you to sit down!"

Something came down hard on his shoulders. He lost his balance and fell heavily to his knees. The blow rattled his very bones. His knees felt loose and rubbery and not just from sitting against the wall for all that time. He tried to focus on the table and saw the cell phone that still held a connection to someone in the outside world. His eyes fell lower and he saw Conner, being held face-down by someone's foot and the barrel of that gun.

"Conner…" he whispered.

"Stop this!" Cam yelled.

"They undermine the cause!"

Things seemed to happen in slow motion as Cam's finger moved to the trigger of the gun. Cam's black eyes were glittering strangely as his gaze came to Tommy. He glanced to Conner and back. Tommy nodded. Cam swung the gun in a graceful arch and aimed at the man nearest to him.

"Now!" Cam said loudly.

Tommy pushed himself off his aching knees and kicked the gun away from Conner's back. The man holding the gun was so startled that he didn't fire any bullets. Using his full weight, he shoved the man away from Conner and into the table. Executing a perfect back flip over Conner, he grabbed him under the arms and dragged him around to the other side of the table away from the terrorists. Unfortunately, it also put the terrorists between them and the door.

While he got Conner away from them, Cam fired a bullet into the ceiling, plaster falling down around him. He rolled over the table and landed on the ground next to them, his gun aimed at the terrorists.

In the frenzy that was the next few seconds, he heard someone yell, "traitor!" and someone else say he "knew from the start that he was a cop."

"Put the guns down!" Cam called, now using the table as a barrier between them and the terrorists.

"Chang," someone said in a deceptively quiet voice. "You can't win this. There are more of us than you and you only have one gun. I doubt you're a good enough marksman to take all of us down before one of you is dead."

Tommy glanced at Cam. He was pale and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. However, his grip on his gun was steady. One of the terrorists was stepping forward. "Put the gun down, Chang," he said. "We'll let you live."

"No fucking way!" Cam snapped back.

"Fine then."

The man moved forward, rolling over the table. Tommy had to admit, he was fast, but Cam was faster. Cam rolled forward and snapped up, his back against Tommy and fired the gun. Bullets went every which way, but one lodged itself in the man's knee. He let out a scream of agony before collapsing behind their side of the table. Cam aimed the gun at him, before swinging around to face the others. They were silent and unmoving and Tommy was pretty sure that was a bad thing.

"Shit," someone muttered.

"The cops are coming!"

"They heard the gunshots."

Cam sagged with visible relief, but didn't put down his gun. Tommy didn't know what to do. They were sitting behind a table with no means of escaping and these terrorists could kill all of them before the cops came to rescue them.

"This is not good," Cam muttered.

Conner pushed himself into a sitting position. He looked pale and scared beyond belief. Tommy sighed. How much good would that cell phone do, if all of them were killed before the person on the other line got help? In fact, he didn't even know who Conner had called to begin with and there was no way to tell now.

"Kill them," someone said.

"Fuck," Cam said under breath. Tommy was inclined to agree with him. The Green Samurai Ranger had expressed things colloquially, but it was true.

Gunshots ricocheted all over the room it seemed. The shots were magnified and painful to hear. Cam shoved him and Conner back to the floor, before popping up briefly to return fire. Tommy watched in horror as a bullet hit Cam straight in the chest. Cam ducked, clutching at the spot on his chest.

"Cam…" Tommy started, then he realized there was no blood around the wound.

"Bullet proof vest," Cam said hoarsely.

One of the terrorists jumped up on the table and aimed the gun at them. Cam quickly took his feet out from under him with his elbow, but not before the man got in one shot. In the commotion, Tommy couldn't see where it went, although he figured it out quickly enough when a crushing pain came in his shoulder and blood blossomed over the tan shirt he had on over his black t-shirt.

"Tommy!" Conner's cry seemed to be far off.

His vision seemed to slow down as he watched Cam use the end of his gun to punch the man in the stomach, stunning him and knocking the gun away. There was a roaring in his ears. What was happening to him? Someone was screaming in the distance.

"What the hell?" he muttered.

"Hang on," he thought he heard Conner say. He felt strong arms wrap around him and a tingly sense of pleasure settled on the back burner of his mind. Conner was holding him. God, if only they could have that relationship when all this was over…

"Conner," he whispered, unable to form anymore coherent sentences.

"It's going to be fine," Conner cried. "Someone's going to come. That bullet didn't hit anything vital. It'll be okay."

"Love… you," he rasped. His body was quickly becoming as numb as his mind. He wanted to sink into the unconsciousness that beckoned to him. He was tired. It would be so much better if he could just sleep.

"Stay awake!" Conner ordered.

"Police!" a voice yelled.

But the police thing seemed unnecessary. Suddenly, a yellow streak seemed to come straight out of the floor and blasts of yellow light hit all of the terrorists, knocking them out and causing them to drop their guns. Men in uniform surged forward, as the yellow streak materialized into a man, shaking dust out of his brown hair. The man turned toward the three of them behind the table.

"Dustin?" Cam asked.

"Dude, don't tell me you, like, don't recognize me?" the reply came.

"How?"

"Conner called me, dude. Although I didn't know you were a cop. That is, like, so awesome!"

"He needs an ambulance," Conner yelled.

People converged on him at once. Tommy wanted to tell all of them to leave him alone, but he couldn't find his voice. He was leaning against Conner, that much he knew. Cam and Dustin seemed to float overhead.

"What are you doing?" was Conner's anguished cry.

"He needs to sleep. He'll be more comfortable."

He felt someone touch a pressure point in his neck and the drowsiness he had felt earlier came back tenfold. "Sleep," someone said.

People were moving him, jostling him. His shoulder ached and the pain was almost unbearable, but he was too sleepy and comfortable in his mind to say anything. He felt himself being put on a stretcher and wheeled down the hallway. He wanted to ask about Hayley and Conner and how Dustin got into the room, but his mind was heavy.

He finally succumbed to what his body wanted.

He closed his eyes and drifted into unconsciousness. 

_To Be Continued..._

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thanks so much for the reviews guys! I haven't much to say except for thanks for the continued to support and I apologize for my sporadic updates and reviewing of others' stories. Dial-up is no fun at all. :) You guys rock! I also hope that this chapter clarified anything that seemed unlikely from the previous chapters. --EK 


	7. A Light in the Distance

**Disclaimer:** 'Power Rangers' is property of BVE or someone along those lines. No infringement is intended.

**MAD SEASON**

By Etcetera Kit

**Chapter Seven: A Light In the Distance **

_He didn't know where he was. Trees surrounded him like he was in a forest, but he couldn't place where it was. He looked around frantically, looking for something that was familiar. There was a flash of movement. He whirled around, trying to find out if someone was in the trees with him. The glimpse he got a red shirt and chestnut hair was enough to make him start running towards it._

_"Conner?" he called._

_He ran forward, pushing through the trees, swatting away the branches that got in his face, trying to stop his progress. It seemed like a fruitless labor because the blur of color stayed the same distance away from him and kept disappearing around corners. He didn't know why he kept following it or why he thought it was Conner. He just kept running, telling himself to keep going and that this race would be over soon._

_Suddenly, he stumbled into a clearing. He was so shocked to be in a clearing filled with sunlight that he froze. Looking around, he realized that the place was set up as if someone had been camping there. A little tent was pitched—it looked like a two or four man one, along with a grill and cooking supplies, a large cooler, some lawn chairs… He couldn't help but notice that most of the items were either black or red. A smile floated over his face._

_Surprise froze his racing heart when he saw the tall, lanky figure sitting in one of the lawn chairs, smiling at him. He was wearing a red tank top and black shorts, showing off his finely muscled arms and legs that had developed over his time as a soccer player. He also couldn't help but notice that seemed to be all he was wearing…_

_"Conner?" he asked._

_Conner smiled and rose from the chair in one easy gesture. "Yes," he replied, closing the space between them in several long strides._

_"Am I-"_

_"Dead?" Conner finished for him. "No. You're not dead."_

_"Then, where are we?"_

_He shrugged. "Anywhere you want to be. This is your dream. You can change it to fit whatever scenario you want."_

_He didn't reply, just kept looking around the secluded camp site. This was the kind of place he would have wanted to go with Conner, had they gotten together. He shook his head slowly. They couldn't have a relationship in the real world. Neither of them had led lives previous to this that would allow for a graceful reception if… no, when the others found out. He sighed, trying not to convey his frustration. Conner was teaching at St. John's. There was no reason for their paths to cross again, no reason for what they had discussed when trapped to come to light._

_"Tommy?" Conner had reached out, his long agile fingers under his chin, forcing him to look up and into those light brown eyes. "Are you all right?"_

_"This can't happen. We can't have this."_

_"We can't have the fairy tale version, but we can have a real version that will be just as fulfilling in the long run."_

_"The writer in you shows."_

_Conner gave him a shy smile. "Why can't we have this?" he asked gently._

_"I don't know. This is moving so fast. It feels so uncontrolled." He paused, letting out a shaky breath. "But it feels right at the same time."_

_"Really?" Conner's voice was gentle and patient. Tommy would never have expected that from the former soccer player had he not known exactly what Conner went through in college to reach where he was now._

_"I guess," he replied. He looked into those light brown eyes. There was so much hidden in those eyes—pain, scars that went to his soul, compassion, a quiet intelligence that most would never see, love… His mind froze over the last one and started flipping around like a fish out of water. Love… "Do you love me?" he whispered._

_"You already know the answer to that," Conner replied._

_There was a ghost of lips brushing over his as Conner stepped towards the trees and faded into the long shadows. He reached out, but couldn't move anymore. He called to Conner, but that didn't stop him from fading._

"CONNER!"

"Tommy! Cam, come here! He's awake!"

Tommy opened his eyes, blinking against the harsh fluorescent lights and the white walls of what appeared to be a hospital room. He caught a glance of reddish hair, before focusing in on the two people sitting by his bed. Hayley and Cam were here.

"Hayley?" he croaked.

She smiled, looking relieved. "You're all right," she said breathlessly with a smile. "The doctors said nothing vital was wrong, but you hadn't woken up…"

"It was the ninja-sleep," Cam interrupted. "Dustin and I put you into it so that the pain wouldn't plague you until the doctors had a chance to patch you up."

"What happened?" he asked, feeling sleepy again, but wanting to know how Dustin seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

"It's a long story," Cam replied. "Apparently, Conner called Dustin, knowing that Dustin was an Earth student and could travel underground with relative ease. Hence, how he was able to come up through the floor of the conference room." He paused. "Dustin also has some quirk in his ability that allows him through the foundation of a building, assuming the room he wants in is on the ground floor."

"Lucky for us," Tommy muttered. He tried to crane his neck around Hayley and Cam to see if Conner was sitting in the chairs behind them or something. There was no sign of him. "Where's Conner?" he asked.

Hayley looked away for a moment. Her eyes looked guarded, as if there was something she wanted to hide. "He's at his apartment. The doctors doped him up with a sedative and sent him home."

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked, trying to push himself into a sitting position, but slumping back when a roaring pain started in his right shoulder.

"Take it slowly," Hayley warned. "They had to do reconstructive surgery on the bones that had shattered."

Tommy slowly lay back down, trying to process what he was hearing. Where Hayley said Conner was could be true. But Hayley was also the world's worst liar, so he had figured out early on how to recognize one of her white lies. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, what Conner had said to her, but he couldn't form the words. He was already drifting back into sleep and his mind didn't want to contemplate what was going on.

"Just sleep," Hayley said. "You can sort everything out, once they let you out of here."

He nodded, closing his eyes.

Conner…

* * *

_He was the same camp site—that much he knew. Only now he was in the tent. He opened his eyes slowly and took in the warm body lying beside him on the large air mattress. A head of chestnut hair raised from where it had been buried in the pillow. He grinned. Conner was lying next to him. It was then that he noticed the heavy leg over his hips and a hand lying on the center of his chest, as if to make sure his heart was still beating._

_"Hey, there," Conner whispered._

_"Conner," Tommy whispered. He was suddenly painfully aware that both of them were completely naked. "Did we just…" he sputtered, trailing the question off._

_"Make love?" Conner asked, looking confused. "Why do you look like it was a nightmare and you didn't enjoy yourself?"_

_"I-" He stopped. Wasn't this what he wanted, this dream world with Conner, where they could make love and be together without any of the consequences bound to come? He shut his mouth and rolled over onto his side so that their bodies could completely touch. He gently planted a kiss on Conner's jaw, not entirely sure where his body stopped and Conner's started. "Do you love me?" he whispered._

_Conner was nuzzling his neck. "You already know," came the response._

_He just gave himself up to the sensations. He couldn't fathom why this was so real since all he and Conner had exchanged in real life was one hug. Little tingles of fire started at his toes and spread over his entire body._

_"You are so beautiful," Conner whispered._

_"Will this work?"_

_And quite suddenly, Conner was gone again. He was alone on the air mattress in the tent, the spot beside him painfully cold. There was an unfulfilled ache in his body. He wanted to be with Conner. He wanted to make love to him and have a relationship. His house was big enough for both of them without them stepping on each other's toes at every turn. He had a huge backyard they could put a soccer goal in and plenty of space…_

_Who was he kidding? This was not real and there was no telling what the real Conner had decided he wanted since stepping away from that situation. They didn't know each other—they were different people now._

_But he wanted it, was dreaming about it…_

_"Conner…" he whispered, wanting that nearness again. He wanted to feel that heat next to him—it was so familiar, yet foreign. Somehow that made it all the more attractive and exciting._

_"You already know," came the ghost of Conner's voice._

_He didn't know and that scared him. He had always been so authoritative with his own life, not letting doubt creep in. He had no idea what was going on here. Did he love Conner enough to make this happen?_

_Rolling over to his stomach, he pulled a blanket lying in the tent over him. Perhaps this was one of the things that he needed to do without being rational about it. Plunge headfirst into a relationship with someone ten years younger than him who had been his student? Sure… no problem… He closed his eyes…_

"Tommy," someone said gently.

He opened his eyes and saw Hayley standing over him. She was shaking his good arm. He blinked.

"Good, you're awake," Hayley said. "The doctors are going to let you out today, but you need to sign up for physical therapy for the shoulder."

He groaned. His entire body felt sluggish from not moving. "What is today?" he asked.

"December twenty-third," she replied. "The Christmas party is tonight."

Tommy sighed, trying to stretch as much as he could without moving his shoulder too much and causing himself more pain. "I think I'll have to skip it this year," he said softly.

Hayley nodded with a sympathetic smile. "I thought as much." She handed him the washed clothes that he had been wearing when they had been held hostage. "I'll take you home and make sure you're settled before I get back to the café."

"Don't you need to set up?"

She shook her head. "Trent is more than capable of setting up for the Christmas party. Besides Cam is over there helping him out."

"Cam?"

"He managed to weasel his way into extra vacation time after the incident with the terrorists. It turns out he wasn't given all the information he needed before going undercover." She paused. "I think his dad and a couple of the ninja types will be there."

"Send them my regards," Tommy said dryly.

"Get dressed," Hayley said.

He gave her a withering look as she left the room. The last thing he wanted to do right now was face an evening full of people. He needed to think and the solace of his house was sounding better and better. He pushed himself up, wincing at the pain in his shoulder and quickly dressed, or as quickly as his shoulder would allow. The nurse gave him several bottles of painkillers before sending him on his way. He and Hayley didn't speak on the ride to his house. He didn't know what to make of any of this.

* * *

"Hayley, my shoulder is what is hurt, not my jaw!" 

Hayley just gave him a patented expression of aloofness and set the bowl of soup down in front of him anyways. This was what she did for sick people and he knew it. Where she got off thinking he was sick rather than hurt was beyond him. His stomach rumbled at the sight of the soup and the memory of the rather rancid hospital food. What he wouldn't have given for a hamburger instead of the soup Hayley was insisting he eat.

She was rummaging around in his fridge, probably looking for juice or milk or something equally as frightening as that. "You don't have much in here," she commented.

"There's coffee," he offered, nodding towards his coffee maker and the bag of coffee sitting right next to it.

She gave him a bored look and kicked the coffee maker into gear. Soon the sounds of the burbling coffee maker and the smell of coffee filled the small kitchen. "Eat your soup," she commanded, sitting at one of the stools around the island in his kitchen, effectively joining him. He picked up the spoon, but just swirled it around in the soup. "What's wrong?" Hayley asked.

He looked up. He had known Hayley for years—she was one of his closest friends and also the only person for years to know he was bisexual. It would be impossible to hide anything from her. He drew in a deep breath.

"Did Conner tell you anything before he went home?"

She shook her head slowly. "No. Of course, he was pretty doped up on that sedative they gave him. He did say he'd be at the Christmas party tonight." She paused and gave him a searching look. "Do you want me to tell him something?"

"No," he said a little too quickly.

"Or you couldn't think of a message?" she asked quietly.

"Something like that," he conceded. He didn't really want to tell Hayley about the revelations they had had concerning each other. Not that she wouldn't be able to figure it out from his silence and her comment at the food court. No, he needed to see Conner in person and they needed to talk. If Conner wanted to talk… it was highly probable that everything Conner had said had been in the heat of the moment and in relation to the desperation of the situation. The spoon fell still from its paddling around the bowl.

"You care about him." It wasn't a question.

He nodded, staring into the tomato-y depths of his bowl.

Hayley grinned. He didn't see it, but he could feel it as she gazed at him. "You guys would make a good match," she said quietly.

"How so?" He looked up, interested as to why an outsider would think they needed to be together.

"Well," she started. "Conner still strikes me as kind of spontaneous and willing to have fun. You'd be there to ground him, since you live kind of a dry teacher's life and you'd make sure he stayed to what was important. But he'd make sure you took time to have fun and relax and not spend all your time looking at fossils or grading papers."

"He's been through a lot," he replied absently, but deep down, he knew that Hayley was right. Conner may have been through a lot, matured and become more grounded than he was, but the little comments like 'can I have a hug?' or 'do you think I'm hot?' led him to believe that his spirit of fun was much more controlled, but very much there.

"True, but then, so have you."

"What have I been through?" he snapped. He hadn't meant it to come out like that, but it did anyways. His life, for the most part, was dry and boring.

"Tommy," Hayley said impatiently. "You have spent the most time in uniform as a ranger, you've endure two pretty bitter break-ups before I even met you, you've watched one of your closest friends die, your island research blew up, you were stuck in your suit for how long?" Her voice rose in volume and pitch as she went on and on about why he had been through a lot, as much as Conner if not more.

Tommy hated to admit, she was right. But… "It would never work," he said quietly. "We may relate to each other and be suited for one another, but it wouldn't work."

"Is that because you're afraid of the reaction?"

His eyes snapped up to hers. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't afraid of the reaction," he snapped. "You saw how my mother reacted four years ago! I didn't even have a boyfriend then." He shook his head. "I don't want us to lose our friends and families because they wouldn't understand."

"I understand," Hayley said fervently. "And I'm sure the others would get over it quickly enough as well." She laid a hand on his arm. "People love you for who you are. I would think they'd be happy you found someone to share your life with."

"The words of a true optimist," he muttered.

Hayley rolled her eyes. "I know your close friends. They would get over it. And Cam knows and he barely knows you from Adam."

"Cam was an undercover agent trying to stop a militant bunch of anti-gays. If he wasn't sympathetic, then I would have to question why he took the job." He paused. "Cam's not gay, is he?"

She laughed. "No, he's not. He just doesn't care what the rest of the world does, because as long as a guy isn't hitting on him, then it doesn't affect him."

"Did he tell Dustin?"

"Dustin may be an airhead, but he's of the same ilk as Cam."

"I hope neither of them have big mouths."

"Dustin does, but no one he would tell is going to be able to get it back to anyone who knows you really well."

He sighed. "I don't know what I want."

Hayley looked sympathetic. "No one does really. Most people don't know what they've got until it's gone." She paused. "I just don't want you and Conner to blow a chance you might have at happiness. You guys might not be soul mates, but you can at least be happy for a few years." She smiled. "You two are more suited for each other than either of you think."

He expelled a long breath. "Then we have to tell our families…"

"Who love you and shouldn't care," Hayley interjected.

"Then the other distress signal reds…"

"Most of them shouldn't care either because you guys aren't attracted to them…"

"Then the rest of our friends…"

"Who should love you too and not care!"

Tommy gave Hayley an annoyed look. "Would you stop shooting down all my objections? Let me wallow in my self-made barriers for a little while longer!"

She snorted. "You need a good kick in the head, is what you need."

"Thanks, when I decide to take that route, you can have the first kick."

"You know, you've been stubborn ever since I met you and it's only gotten worse as you've gotten older."

"Now I'm an old wet blanket?"

Hayley just laughed and stood up. She leaned over him and kissed his cheek. "Eat your soup. If I see Conner at the party, I'll send him your way." Before he could come up with a retort for that, she was out in the front hall putting on her jacket and slamming the front door behind her.

Tommy suppressed a growl and stood up from the island, leaving his untouched bowl of soup. The coffee was ready. He poured himself a cup of coffee and gritted his teeth as pain shot through his arm. His bag of prescriptions was lying on the counter. He rifled through it and found the painkillers he was suppose to take every four hours.

_"I was hooked on painkillers for a while."_

He stared with renewed horror at the bottle in his hand. Without opening it, he shoved it back in the bag and walked slowly into the living room. He knew he wasn't going to get addicted to the painkillers just taking them for his injury, but somehow, what Conner had gone through scared him. He collapsed onto the couch, not knowing whether he wanted Hayley to send Conner over here or not.

_To Be Continued..._

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thanks for the reviews guys! We're on the home stretch now. Thanks for sticking with me and offering great comments! I'll do the formal 'end credits' at the next chapter. Until then, cheers! --EK 


	8. Beginnings

**Disclaimer:** 'Power Rangers' is property of BVE or someone along those lines. No infringement is intended.

**MAD SEASON**

By Etcetera Kit

**Chapter Eight: Beginnings **

Hayley's Cyberspace Café was already buzzing with life when Conner walked in. A smile floated over his lips as the familiar sights and sounds brought back memories—some good and some bad, but memories all the same. It was still rather early and the place was nowhere near as packed as it was going to be. Christmas decorations were strewn all over and brightly colored cookies were set out on plates around the bar. It seemed like such a long time ago since he had come to these parties as a willing participant. Not that he didn't want to be here now… it just felt awkward, because he was suddenly aware of how old he was.

But that didn't stop him from feeling like he was in high school again. As his light brown eyes flicked to the bandstand, he kept expecting to see Kira and her band warming up before the huge crowds came in. He took a sweeping glance of the tables, half-expecting to see Ethan sitting at his laptop, engaged in some game. Hayley was behind the bar as usual, chatting with some kids sitting there.

"Hi, Conner!"

He turned to see Cam and Dustin sitting at one of the tables. Cam was hunched over a laptop, doing God only knows what. Dustin was reading a comic book, but stopping every so often to offer his brand of 'advice' for whatever it was Cam was doing. The undercover agent and former Green Ranger was doing a good job of ignoring him. Dustin waved him over.

"How's it going, dude?" Dustin asked as he came to stand by their table.

Conner shrugged. "Not bad."

Cam gave him a sharp look over the top of the computer. "Really?" His eyebrow lift really could rival that of any Vulcan.

"Well… I've been out of it for the past few days and have gotten nothing accomplished."

"Dude, its Christmas break! What do you have to do?" Dustin looked disgusted at the very idea of doing something that required work or brain power. Conner suppressed a smile, remembering how Eric had always told him Dustin was a great sensei and great ninja, but the world's biggest dingbat when it came to interpersonal relationships.

"It's not work, per se," Conner amended.

"Then what is it?" Dustin was starting to look confused.

Without taking his eyes off the screen, Cam reached over and smacked Dustin in the back of the head. Dustin made a stifled noise of protest and began to massage his skull. Cam met Conner's gaze. Conner didn't know whether or not to feel relieved since Cam did know what he didn't get accomplished.

"I know what it is," Cam said in a tone of voice meant to egg Dustin on.

"Well, that's because you're, like, super-smart," Dustin replied in a tone of voice that clearly said that information was obvious. "I'm kind of lost," the former Yellow Ranger admitted.

"Wouldn't be the first time that happened," Cam replied airily.

"You're just trying to impress Hayley," Dustin retorted.

"I have to agree with you—I have finally found my match IQ-wise."

"So why are you guys here?" Conner asked loudly, trying to distract Dustin from figuring out what Cam already knew. Fortunately, it worked.

"We were invited, duh!" Dustin said.

Conner had never been so glad that Hayley chose that exact moment to come over to their table and drag him over to the bar, now devoid of life. She sat him down on one of the stools before rounding the bar. This was bad. Hayley was in her 'I mean business' mode and there was not much that could deter her when that happened.

"How have you been?" Hayley asked him as she wiped down the area around the espresso machine.

"I'm fine, other than being shaken up a little."

She gave him a bored look. "You know what I mean."

He sighed, allowing his thoughts to go back to Tommy for the first time since being sent home from the hospital and being assured that he would be fine. "I don't know," he replied carefully. "I'm all for it, but Tommy seemed really hesitant."

"People who are hesitant do not say they love you before going unconscious."

Conner had to will himself not to blush and hoped that no one heard that. He had been mulling that fact over in his mind, trying to figure out what exactly it could mean. His mind had come to one conclusion and that conclusion involved finding Tommy and wringing some answers out of him. "He was in pain and probably delusional," he said softly. "He might have thought he was dying."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "He knows the difference between when he's hurt and when he's dying, trust me," she said. "Now stop giving me excuses and tell me why you're sitting in my café and not over at Tommy's."

"I was invited to the party," he said, trying to sound indignant.

"Listen to me, Conner," Hayley said in a gentle tone of voice. "Tommy cares about you, more than he's willing to admit. In fact, he loves you, but he doesn't know it. All he needs is a push in the right direction."

"And I'm supposed to be the one to do that?"

"Some mistletoe might help," Hayley said blandly.

Conner's mind froze for a moment. "Hayley," he replied. "This isn't some kind of romance movie or fairy tale. I can't just get the person I want by kissing them."

"Who're you going to kiss?"

He inwardly groaned when Dustin and Cam wandered over to the bar and settled themselves on bar stools on either side of him. Dustin was giving him a curious look while Cam had suddenly become interested in the sprinkles on a plate of cookies.

"None of your business," he snapped.

"Conner," Hayley's voice had a pleading tone. "Just go talk to him."

"You're going to kiss a guy! I wouldn't have pegged you to go for that sort of thing," Dustin commented.

"And nobody cares what you think," Cam muttered under his breath.

"My girlfriend does!" Dustin retorted.

"She's the only one."

"Are you two married?" Hayley interrupted. "Because the way you two argue, you sure sound like it."

Dustin and Cam both got equally horrified looks on their faces, as if the very idea of the pair of them being married was repulsive.

"So are you going to go talk to him?" Hayley asked.

Conner sighed. "I guess so." Three faces were looking at him expectantly. "What is this?" he muttered. "Peer pressure."

"Dude, tell us how is goes!" Dustin said enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Conner replied sarcastically. "I'll let you know if we have wild sex."

Dustin frowned. "I don't need to know that."

"Good luck," Hayley called as he stepped out of the café and into the night air that had turned bitterly cold in the past few days.

* * *

The lights were on in Tommy's house. Conner turned off the engine of his car and leaned back against the headrest. This was ridiculous. Tommy may have said he loved him, but that still didn't counter all of the objections he had to them being together. Maybe Hayley was right and he did need a push in the right direction. Then again, maybe Hayley was wrong and Tommy had completely moved on from that temporary insanity involving insane terrorists who were now all in jail and charged with first degree murder and a number of other fun things. 

Taking a deep breath, he got out of the car and headed up the walk. The porch light was on. Sighing, he rang the doorbell.

There was some shuffling inside and then the door opened to reveal Tommy. He was wearing a pair of loose jeans and a wife beater, his right shoulder heavily bandaged. And he did not look surprised to see him.

"You don't look surprised to see me," he commented.

Tommy shrugged. "Hayley get to you too?"

"Ripped me up one side and down the other."

He smiled softly and stepped inside the house, allowing Conner to enter. "Come in," he said. "No use standing on the porch freezing to death."

He stepped inside Tommy's house. He had been here so many times in high school and had memorized the surroundings—nothing had changed. But now, it seemed to take on a new meaning. This was not where the Dino Thunder lab was or where his teacher lived. It was Tommy's house and with that revelation, the interior took on a new light. For the first time, it seemed, he noticed that the walls were painted a muted red color. He followed Tommy through the front hall and into the kitchen.

"Do you want some coffee?" Tommy asked.

He nodded and slipped out of his coat, setting it on one of the stools around the island in the kitchen. He studied Tommy as he prepared two cups of coffee. His arms were strong and well-muscled, not to mention the rest of his torso that the wife beater hid and revealed at the same time. Part of him wanted to screw reason and kiss him senseless, but the other part told him to wait, keep his hormones in check until they had talked.

Tommy set the mug of coffee before him, black, just the way he liked it. He sat down on one of the stools close to him. "Nice shirt," Tommy commented, nodding towards the black wife beater he had on under his red button-up shirt.

It took a moment for what Tommy was indicating to dawn on him. He was wearing both their colors—black and red. Rangers, for whatever reason, did not wear each other's color when in their presence. But he had and had done it without thinking. Maybe it was sign.

"I take it you didn't plan that," the former Black Ranger said, taking a sip of his coffee. "If the stunned look on your face is anything to go by."

"No," he agreed.

"I know why you're here, so that's a moot question."

Conner smiled and looked up from where he had been previously staring into the brown depths of his coffee mug. Tommy was gazing at him with a guarded expression, as if he didn't want to let his true feelings out. He took a deep breath. He needed to ask about what Tommy had said before he passed out.

"Back there, with the terrorists," he said slowly. "Did you… mean it when you said you loved me?"

Tommy expelled a long breath, raking a hand through his short, spiky hair. "Shit," he muttered, taking on the look of a cornered animal. "Yes," he admitted. "I did mean it."

"How do you know?"

"What?"

"How do you know you love me?"

He sighed, averting his eyes. "I don't know. It's one of those things that I just feel. It's hard to explain." He paused. "I love my family and I know that. But what I feel for you is not that kind of love… it's more like… passion."

"You want to have sex with me?"

"Not just that. I want to spend my life with you, wake up next to you, listen to you talk about whatever the hell it is English teachers talk about." Tommy looked uncomfortable, like he didn't want to say this. But at the same time, Conner could see that smoldering passion back in his dark eyes.

Conner grinned. "Poetry," he said seriously.

Tommy gaped at him for a minute before returning the grin. "You are not going to start quoting poetry at me, are you?"

"Not yet, at any rate." He paused, a mischievous smile blossoming over his face. "If I have the right motivation, I might."

Tommy didn't reply. He appeared to be thinking over the implications of that, the gears turning in his head. "So…" he said slowly. "Are either of us willing to commit to this?"

"I am," Conner replied.

"Do you love me?"

The question caught him so off-guard that he had to keep himself from falling over or knocking over his coffee mug. Then it occurred to him. Tommy had already committed himself to the relationship when he said he loved him. Now he wanted the same knowledge, the same confirmation that Conner felt the same way he did.

"Yes," he said softly. "I love you."

Conner stood up and moved closer to Tommy, not giving him time to object as he lowered his lips to his. There was a moment of hesitation, of uncertainty before he felt Tommy respond. He dropped his arms to Tommy's waist as he felt Tommy rise to meet him and lay his hands on his shoulders. Little tingles of fire started running down his spine as Tommy tilted his head so they could kiss more comfortably. He nipped at his lower lip, forcing him to part his lips and give him entrance to his mouth. However, the moment tongues got involved, Tommy became the more dominant force, exploring his mouth with a passion Conner could not have imagined. He gave himself over to the fire in his body and the ache that was suddenly strong.

He had to admit, it was a little strange kissing another man, feeling stubble rub against his face, but it was definitely another thing he could get used to quickly. He moved his lips from Tommy's, kissing a trail down his mouth to his throat, to gently suck on a sensitive soft underneath his ear. A soft moan filled his ears.

"Don't you dare give me a hickey," was the unsteady response.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he muttered in reply, too caught up with the hard male body straining against his.

"It's not going to be easy when others find out," Tommy whispered, obviously not wanting to broach the subject.

"It's not," Conner murmured into his neck. "But they don't know yet."

He moved back up to capture Tommy's mouth. Sliding his hands up his chest, feeling the hard muscles, he settled his hands on his shoulder blades. Suddenly, Tommy gasped in pain and pulled away from him, his left hand coming up to his bandaged shoulder.

"Are you all right?" Conner asked, concerned. He shouldn't be in that much pain if he had been taking the drugs like he was supposed to.

"I'll be fine," Tommy replied shortly.

He took a step towards him, but Tommy backed away. "Have you been taking the drugs like you're supposed to?"

"No," Tommy growled. "And don't start to lecture me on it."

Conner smiled. "I wouldn't dare." He crossed the space between them, but didn't reach out for him. "I was just going to suggest doing something to take your mind off it."

The pain receded from Tommy's face and he hooked two fingers over the waistband of Conner's jeans. He allowed himself to be led into the bedroom. It occurred to him that he had never seen Tommy's bedroom before, but that he was now going to be spending a lot of time in here. The headboard of the bed was a simple wooden one and there were khaki colored sheets and blankets on the bed.

Tommy's hands were inside his shirt, touching skin. Before he knew it, Tommy was pushing him towards the bed and he lay back as soon as his legs touched the edge. It was strange being the one off-balance, but something he didn't mind as Tommy gave him another fiery kiss. Something he really didn't mind…

* * *

Conner groaned and stretched, reaching out for Tommy. A lazy smile floated over his face as he remembered what they had done, what each had given and taken. It had been amazing, something he had never thought he could feel before. As they had drifted off into a light sleep, Tommy's body wrapped around his, he remembered the kiss pressed to his shoulder blade and the whispered, sleepy, "I love you." 

However, Tommy was not in bed. His place was still warm, indicating that he hadn't left that long ago. He sat up, realizing that he was not in the bedroom. Letting out a long breath, he searched around the side of the bed until he found his abandoned boxers. He pulled them on and padded out of the bedroom, into the living room.

Tommy was standing there, looking out of the screen door. He was wearing his jeans from earlier, but his chest was bare. Then Conner saw what he was staring at.

It was snowing outside. Large white flakes fell lazily from the sky and melted as soon as they hit the ground, but it was snow nonetheless. Against the night sky, it looked peaceful and almost magical. It was like it was straight out of a Christmas movie where someone had a revelation in the woods and something like this happened.

He came up behind Tommy and wrapped his arms around his waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. "Hey," Tommy said quietly, resting his arms over Conner's.

"You left me," he whispered in a playful tone of voice.

"I was coming back," was the slightly snappish retort. "But this was too amazing to miss by lying around in bed."

He let the conversation drop, tightening his hold on Tommy. Now that they had decided to be together, he didn't want to lose him. It had taken so long for Tommy to drop his resistance to the idea… he didn't want to waste any moment they had together. This was new for both of them, but they would learn what to do, how to live with it.

"Do you have any plans?"

Conner knew what he was asking. "I'm expected at my brother's house Christmas morning, but other than that, nothing." He shivered, partly from a draft through the sliding door and partly from thinking about going back to his lonely apartment. The latter thought was depressing.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked.

"Just thinking about how I don't want to go back to my apartment."

"Why?"

"It's lonely there." He paused. "I may be a writer, but I still hate the feeling that I'm completely alone."

"You're not alone," Tommy whispered, shifting so that he could press a kiss to his jaw. "Besides, I've got plenty of room here."

His heart felt like it would burst from joy. "Are you asking what I think you're asking me?" he said softly, not daring to speak any louder.

"If you want to move in here? Yes." Tommy gave him a sidelong look and pushed a stray lock of hair away from his face. "And someone has to keep you in line."

"And someone has to make sure you don't drown in fossils," he teased.

He got a dark look in return. He laughed. This would work out better than either of them thought it would. Tommy already had one of the expressions mastered that Conner had the feeling he was going to be on the receiving end of quite often. For some reason, it amused him to think of all the annoyed and exasperated expressions he was going to be receiving.

There was no guarantee that this would last. Hardly anything in life was forever. But both of them were committed for now. And it would definitely be interesting because they'd do double takes at hot girls and guys.

"Do you want to spend Christmas Eve with me?" Tommy asked.

"I don't have a present for you," he whispered.

"It doesn't matter." Tommy turned completely in his embrace so that their chests were pressed up against each other, not even a nail file could have fit between them. He pressed a firm, but quick kiss to his lips. "Besides," he murmured into his ear. "I think I've already got the best present ever."

A warm, fuzzy feeling spread over his body. He didn't have to be told what Tommy was talking about. Tommy was pressing kisses along his jaw before meeting his lips and continuing with those fiery kisses that always seemed to suggest something more. At this moment in time, life was perfect and nothing could spoil it.

Outside, the snow softly fell. 

The End

* * *

**Author's Note:** Wow-- this fic has been another wild ride from beginning to end. And to think that it all started with a flippant comment during an IM conversation! (Remember that Jepoliant?) First and foremost, I would like to thank Jepoliant for being my primary beta reader and for all her support and encouragement while I was writing this. (While I'm a fan fiction veteran, I'm a slash fiction newbie.) And yes, she even gets thanks for nitpicking my grammar and plot consistency. Secondly, I'd like to thank Kaidence Ledger for supporting the idea and reading through the first draft as a casual reader. You two made this fic happen!

I also like to give a HUGE shout-out to cmar for writing 'Red Fire' which was the basis and constant inspiration for this story. I also borrowed most of the plot structure and some of the plot devices from her-- so she gets full credit for thinking up those things. Thanks cmar-- in many ways, you also made this fic happen!

Next, I'd like to thank everyone who took a moment to review this story and lend their own personal support, comments, critiques and compliments: Azkaban Huntress, CamFan4Ever, cmar, Feline-Feral, fenestrae, Jepoliant, Reno Sands, SapphireRayne, siriuslydeceased, Tristan Cole Purple Ranger, Warstock-Leonhart and Yardat sama.

Ironically enough, I was going to write this story as a kind of 'tongue in cheek' exercise. So I hope that everyone enjoyed reading this and appreciate it for what it was supposed to be-- a logical and believable way for Conner and Tommy to become a couple. I'm not sure what future projects will bring-- I have a yellow ranger fic and a spin-off of SPD in mind-- so keep your eyes peeled. As usual, feel free to recommend good stories to me and I shall see all of you around the site! --EK


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